Today's database technology landscape is more dynamic than ever before. With growing data volume, data types and data uses, many organizations are using an array of specialized information management technologies to manage their data. Despite fresh breakthroughs and noteworthy solutions, identifying and selecting the right relational database management (RDBMS) platform is still a vital obligation and transactional databases continue to remain at the heart of the enterprise’s information processing responsibilities. In optimizing data management technologies in the organization, one must learn how the latest trends in information management are affecting IT organizations, why a ‘one size fits all’ database no longer makes sense, and how integrated solutions such as the SAP Real Time Data Platform can provide a logical, unified approach to data management.