In The Know: Top 5 Must-Read Cloud Stories, June 30

Talkin’ Cloud at the end of each day pulls out five must-read cloud computing stories from the news cycle for its readers to review in the morning. Today’s column features Apple, Unit4 and Microsoft. 

Some of these stories have been gathered from Talkin’ Cloud’s article database or that of its sister sites, while others have been collected from elsewhere. If we missed something, feel free to leave a comment below. We might just add it into the mix.

Here’s today’s list of must-read cloud computing stories.

Good Brings Enterprise Email, Collaboration App to Apple Watch. Good Technology is bringing its enterprise email and collaboration solutions to the Apple Watch, available through the iTunes app store. Good isn’t a stranger to the wearables space; earlier this year, Good Work launched on Android Wear devices.

Unravelling a Tangled Web of Cloud ERP Alliances. ERP applications provider Unit4 is in the process of expanding its presence in North America through an agreement with Microsoft that will see its ERP cloud applications deployed in hybrid cloud environments.

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Microsoft: Cloud Will Play Prominent Role in SharePoint 2016. Microsoft is planning a beta release of the new SharePoint Server 2016 by the end of this year, and Office 365 cloud services will inspire the SharePoint product going forward, according to Mark Kashman, senior product manager at Microsoft.

Avoid culture shock in your next cloud computing project. While it may seem like technology, cost or security are the biggest factors preventing enterprise cloud adoption, the biggest challenge may actually be culture. Take a look at this case study with Volvo to see what we mean.

Gartner lowers its IT spending forecast, but says activity remains high. Worldwide IT spending is expected to decline by 5.5 percent this year, but IT activity may be higher than spending suggests. Price declines in communications and IT services, plus a move to cloud-based services, could mask an increase in activity, according to Gartner.