How can CIOs and IT leaders prepare themselves for the challenge and opportunity of a more central role in strategic decision-making? First, they must make sure they understand the needs and expectations of other campus leaders. For example, they need to closely align with the vision of their presidents, and they need to ally with chief financial officers (CFOs). In addition, they need to be aware of the current education concerns and views not only of the wider higher education community--including faculty, librarians, and fellow IT leaders and senior campus administrators--but also of non-academic CIOs and the general public. To help CIOs and IT leaders gain the needed understanding and awareness, this article highlights data and information gathered by organizations that are making significant headway in studies of information technology and higher education: (1) the Pew Research Center, together with the "Chronicle of Higher Education"; (2) the American Council on Education (ACE); (3) ITHAKA; (4) the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO); (5) IBM; and (6) EDUCAUSE. These groups have conducted surveys and studies on the value, quality, and mission of higher education, on current concerns in higher education, on digital forms of academic publication and communication, on the primary issues facing CFOs, on organizational objectives in relation to the CIO position, and on questions of IT cost and productivity. Together, these studies and surveys offer a view toward the current higher education IT landscape. (Contains 4 notes.) ["Surveying the Landscape" was written with Diana Oblinger.]