Stuart Appley

Moving to the Cloud is Critical for IT Effectiveness

As a technology leader in Silicon Valley, I always wonder whether we take the innovative cloud approaches here for granted, yet the real value of the cloud is so compelling I still find it hard to understand why there is still resistance anywhere. I’m constantly reminded that there are many CIO’s who are still slow toContinue reading “Moving to the Cloud is Critical for IT Effectiveness”

How Leveraging the Cloud Can Enhance Your Security Risk Profile

It’s a given that cloud adoption is growing heavily, but I continue to hear how security is a concern or roadblock for some. Yes, the ever increasing stories of cyber attacks have ensured security remains a top priority for CIO’s, as it should be, but I’m always amazed at how security in the cloud is looked uponContinue reading “How Leveraging the Cloud Can Enhance Your Security Risk Profile”

Yes – IT is Still Relevant

We had a great discussion recently on the topic “Is IT still relevant”, where I was joined with Tim Crawford, Mark Thiele and Bob Egan on a Google Hangout and Twitter chat (#CIOitk), and a few themes came out that I think are worth highlighting: The Consumerization of IT has changed our expectations of enterprise systems, andContinue reading “Yes – IT is Still Relevant”

Why Leaders need to be on Twitter and My Experiences

I’ve meant for a while to write about my Twitter experiences, and after being named earlier this year as a Top 100 Social CIO on Twitter by The Huffington Post, it felt that now was as good a time as any. In short, all technology and business leaders should be embracing social media as a leadershipContinue reading “Why Leaders need to be on Twitter and My Experiences”

The Next Gen CIO’s are Leading Today

I had an opportunity to speak about The Next Generation CIO at the Constellation Connected Enterprise conference a few weeks back, and the topic brought to light the theme of what really makes a CIO an effective business leader both today and in the future. In my view, the skills required for the next generationContinue reading “The Next Gen CIO’s are Leading Today”

Disruption – Overcoming Cultural Hurdles takes Patience and Persistence

As innovation and disruption continue to be leading themes in business and technology, one component that’s essential for success is that change needs to be a part of your company’s DNA. If not, patience and persistence better be some of your core traits. Today’s CIO should always be focused on building better business value throughContinue reading “Disruption – Overcoming Cultural Hurdles takes Patience and Persistence”

Digital Disruption Comes to Life

I attended a great conference recently on digital business disruption that was put on by Ray Wang and the Constellation Research Group. After attending the annual Gartner Symposium last month, I was starting to feel that the terms digital business and digital disruption were getting over used and over hyped. However, at Constellation’s Connected EnterpriseContinue reading “Digital Disruption Comes to Life”

Cloud’s Biggest Benefit is Agility and Adding Business Value

Between the recent IT conferences and some interesting twitter chats, I continue to hear discussions on the top cloud benefits. Cost savings in particular has come up a few times. But, is cost savings really a top cloud benefit? Using the cloud is really about agility and adding business value. It allows IT organizations toContinue reading “Cloud’s Biggest Benefit is Agility and Adding Business Value”

The CIO Golden Rule – Talking in the Language of the Business

There have been many articles lately about different types of CIO’s, particularly one by IBM about CIO’s being split into two classes of leaders; strategic and operational. The topic also continues to be front and center in many CIO conversations and conferences. It’s a topic that I believe is very important, particularly as I continueContinue reading “The CIO Golden Rule – Talking in the Language of the Business”