This special report is based on a two-part premise. First, despite rumors to the contrary, a fair amount of technology spending still occurs during the fourth quarter of the federal government's fiscal year — the use-it-or-lose-it syndrome.

Second, federal buyers think more strategically now than in years past. Rather than simply buying what's on the shelf, they are looking for technology that gives their infrastructure the juice it needs to run their operations.

So how do you begin to decide where to spend your money?

This special report highlights product areas that are worth considering. The first installment, published last week, covered three topics: thin-client computing, blade servers and encryption technology.

This week's report adds three more: wireless local-area network analyzers, bandwidth management and storage resource management. Each article includes an overview of recent market developments, plus tips for buying or using the technology.

The entire special report is available online at www.fcw.com. We hope you find this information useful as the summer buying season heats up.