The database is the most important piece of software in the enterprise, and the most important piece of software in the enterprise is the database. The database is the foundation of all applications. The database is the heart of the application, and the application is the heart of the business. The key to performance is to keep the hot data in memory. The future of databases is in the cloud. Data is the new oil. It's valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used. It has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity; so must data be broken down, analyzed for it to have value.