There are no shortages of pronouncements of a full economic recovery from the post-boom recession years. Tech job cuts are at a six-year low, IT operational budgets are at the highest levels since 1997, and tech wages are at a five-year high, and this is just a gathering from reports issued this week. Yet, IT still struggles to disengage from <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1994101,00.asp?kc=EWWKNEMNL072806EOAD">the forlorn image of thousands of layoff victims</A> after the tech bubble's collapse in 2001. A report issued this week highlighted some outmoded views of the field, as well as the schism that still exists between insiders' and outsiders' perception of the occupation.