Nature-inspired intelligent swarm technologies deals with complex problems that might be impossible to solve using traditional technologies and approaches. Swarm intelligence techniques (note the difference from intelligent swarms) are population-based stochastic methods used in combinatorial optimization problems in which the collective behavior of relatively simple individuals arises from their local interactions with their environment to produce functional global patterns. Swarm intelligence represents a meta heuristic approach to solving a variety of problems

Efforts since 2001 to design self-managing systems have yielded many impressive achievements, yet the original vision of autonomic computing remains unfulfilled. Researchers must develop a comprehensive systems engineering approach to create effective solutions for next-generation enterprise and sensor systems.