Hyperscale storage is becoming an increasingly viable option for the datacenter, with industry heavyweights putting more resources into the software behind technology.  Most recently we’ve seen a string of hyperscale product releases from Fusion-io, where smarter software was key to managing this level of datacenter restructuring.  Here to break down the differences between hyperscale storage and traditional offerings is Wikibon CTO and co-founder David Floyer, who appeared on the SiliconAngle NewsDesk show earlier this week. morning to discuss the differences between the hyperscale/service provider market and the traditional enterprise space.  Floyer says that there are several major factors CIOs will want to note, starting with the application layer.

The first difference lies in the application layer: the hyperscale crowd typically relies on a few apps that are consumed by a large number of end users, while enterprises often maintain an application for each department or team. The latter approach produces a great deal of complexity for organizations that employ tens, or even hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide.

Floyer says that another differentiator between hyperscale and traditional enterprise, which is perhaps the most important one, is the fact companies that fall under the former category are willing to put in the time and effort to solve their problems.  This is proving to be a boon for the industry as a whole:

“If you look at the area of Big Data you see a lot of the fundamental differences that signal that this has come from the hyperscale industry, that the people starting this were [from] Google and Yahoo. They follow an open-source policy: they build technology, but if that isn’t central to their service, then they will put that out as open-source and pay people in the community to look out for it rather than look after it themselves. That approach to the marketplace is very, very different from the proprietary approaches taken say by EMC.”

Floyer says that because many traditional enterprises players leverage open-source technology, there is some overlap to be found between the two segments. He advises CIOs and CTOs to keep an eye peeled for innovations introduced to the market by hyperscale leaders.

See Floyer’s full segment below: