Rich Kaestner

Rich Kaestner serves as Total Cost of Ownership, Value of Investment and Green Computing Project Director for the Consortium for School Networking. In that capacity, Rich coordinated the development of the web-based CoSN-Gartner K-12 Total Cost of Ownership tool, and continues to provide project leadership, training and technical support for this initiative. In order to help schools better determine the value of investment in proposed or planned projects, Rich is providing development leadership and support for CoSN’s Value of Investment (VOI) Leadership Initiative. Addressing the highly visible issues of reducing the carbon footprint for schools, Rich has developed CoSN’s Green Computing Leadership Initiative which provides tips, resources and tools for green lifecycle, computer energy usage and the role computers can play for overall school conservation initiatives. Rich is also a major contributor to CoSN’s Mastering the Moment toolkit, designed to help provide support and guidance to technology leaders during economic crises. Current work includes development of studies and materials on cloud computing and wireless infrastructure for mobile learning.

Prior to his work with CoSN, Rich was a technology marketplace consultant with Gartner and worked in various management, sales and support capacities for technology vendors.