Jaikumar Vijayan

Despite garnering support at this year

Compaq Computer Corp.'s announcement last week that it will increasingly tie its hardware sales to life cycle services and custom support addresses a growing need in the enterprise market, according to users and analysts.

Security software vendors that until recently seemed immune to the broad slowdown in IT spending are now feeling the pinch, with several companies issuing warnings about deteriorating business conditions this week.

When VeriSign Inc. disclosed late last month that it had issued two digital certificates to an individual who fraudulently claimed to be a Microsoft Corp. employee, the incident highlighted for corporate users how simple human error can undo technology-based security schemes.

At a time when companies are trimming overall spending for IT, expenditures on security projects seem less likely to get cut than other technology initiatives, users and analysts said.

It takes about 1,300 parts to assemble one of Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s surgical robots.nTo comply with federal regulations governing the manufacture of such equipment, Mountain View, Calif.-based Intuitive must keep track of every part and process that goes into the assembly.

IBM Corp. is trying to make it easier for companies to take advantage of a mainframe's traditional reliability and scalability for deploying emerging e-business applications.

It takes about 1,300 parts to assemble one of Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s surgical robots.To comply with regulations...