Managing a modern enterprise-class database can be monstrously complicated. For data warehouses, the index structure, partitioning plan, and various server settings must be just right to ensure good performance in handling complex queries. For a transactional database, availability and high performance are critical factors that can impact revenue. As databases grow in size and complexity, these concerns become compounded. This white paper examines these issues, the approaches taken to address the issues, and the emergence of an automated database offering that promises to ensure the best possible availability and response times.