The use of software agents and distributed objects to integrate enterprises: Compatible or competing technologies?

Distributed object and software agent technologies are two integration methods for connecting enterprises. The two technologies have overlapping goals--interoperability and architectural support for integrating software components--though to date little or no integration of the two technologies has been made at the enterprise level. The primary difference between these two technologies is that distributed object technologies focus on the problems inherent in connecting distributed heterogeneous systems whereas software agent technologies focus on the problems involved with coordination and knowledge exchange across domain boundaries. This paper addresses the integration of these technologies in support of enterprise integration across organizational and geographic boundaries. The authors discuss enterprise integration issues, review their experiences with both technologies, and make recommendations for future work. Neither technology is a panacea. Good software engineering techniques must be applied to integrate an enterprise because scalability and a distributed software development team are realities.