Hear that echo? That`s the recurring, repetitive beat of 1999`s party in your aching head. Like a hangover, you wish the party had never happened, and that things can only get better. How wrong you can be...

The charts look good. Worldwide GDP growth is slowly recovering from its post-bubble lows. IT budget growth, which peaked at a massive 15.9 percent in 1999, collapsed. Gartner reports a round 0.0 percent in 2003. But 2004 is looking better. The research firm`s global CIO survey finds that it`s back into positive territory, although marginally.