A variety of factors are converging to create an information storage explosion. Enabled by new types of information, such as digitization of images and video, and sensor information from RFID tags, the amount of digital information within an organization is mushrooming. Growing regulatory compliance and globalization require that information be stored securely and available at all times. At the same time, the cost of disk storage has dramatically decreased, enabling organizations to store more data per dollar invested. Users must quickly sift through mountains of data to find relevant information. Furthermore, they want to use this information on any device and with the programs that they use every day, such as Microsoft Office System applications. Managing this data explosion and the increase in user expectations creates numerous challenges for the enterprise.
This excerpt is from the document which explains the overview of what SQL Server 2008 is all about, I recommend reading this document.
Related link:
SQL2008_ProductOverview.pdf (809.6 KB)
Bandagi!