Caution! Agent Based Systems in Operation 1.2 When to Use Agents?

As agent based systems move out of the controlled laboratory and simulated environment into real world applications, they face signi cant design and operational challenges. This paper attempts to highlight some of the major issues involved in the design and implementation of agent based applications. Our intent is not to prescribe speci c solutions or actions, which will depend on the application domain, scope and resources available, but to make the reader aware of the issues which need serious consideration when using agents to tackle real world problems. The following sections each address a speci c issue related to design, implementation or operational e ciency of multi{agent systems.