Demands on business today - tighter regulations, leaner budgets, intensifying competition, accelerated M&A activity and more - are driving an ever-increasing need to improve efficiency and decision making. Access to timely, accurate data when, where and how it is needed, regardless of platform, is key to streamlining operations and accelerating time to action. This white paper describes the market forces driving the need for data sharing, examines the complications of traditional approaches to the problem, and proposes an alternative - real-time, automated, cross-platform database replication.