Attempts to manage the information explosion of the past decade have given rise to many new databases, but have also contributed to higher Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), non-standardized tools across entire companies, and a business user community that is frustrated by the inability to get the data it needs. Companies feel the pain everywhere and are employing everything at their disposal to harvest and mine data.

Wise companies are strategically investing in information with an understanding of market trends. This research paper describes the history of data platforms, the architectural choices today, the information architecture to pursue and the key players companies should pay attention to.

This report is for those who are pursuing their business goals through the use of information. It is for information architects and management making platform decisions and allocating workloads.