OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) and OLTP (Online Transactional Processing) are two distinct data processing systems designed for different purposes. OLAP focuses on analyzing and extracting insights from large volumes of multidimensional data, aiding strategic decision making, while OLTP manages and processes high-volume, real-time transactions, ensuring smooth and efficient business operations. Each system has its unique characteristics, storage requirements, and architecture, catering to distinct needs within an organization. Choosing between OLAP and OLTP depends on the organization's specific data challenges. Platforms like SingleStore can handle both workloads seamlessly, providing a single platform for OLTP and OLAP use cases, eliminating the need to decide which paradigm is right for your use case and then hook up complex ETL pipelines.