Mobile agents may execute on any machine in a network without the necessity of having the agent code pre-installed on every machine the agent could visit. Mobile agents represent a new model in the evolution of executable content on the Internet, introducing program code that can be transported along with state information. Intended Application Areas Internet information retrieval can be supported more efficiently if an agent representing a query can move to the place where the data are actually stored, rather than moving all of the data through the network and search for the desired information. Internet commerce is becoming a reality as standards for electronic payment are deployed. Mobile agents can help to locate the most appropriate offerings, negotiate deals or even conclude business transactions on behalf of their owners.
Mobile computing is another interesting field for mobile agents.
Portable computers get smaller and smaller, but the wireless access to the services is likely to stay slow. Users can submit a mobile agent which embodies their queries and log off, waiting for the agents and the results to be picked up at a later time. Due to the growth of networks network management is another field for mobile agents. In large networks, monitoring and fault detection is very difficult and involves large amounts of logging data.