Bloxx helps Pierhead to Reduce IT Admin Time & Increase Management Confidence

“The automatic reporting is a big bonus for me – it has significantly reduced the amount of administration time spent and gives managers absolute confidence that everyone is using the Internet as we would wish.”

Craig Jones, ICT Officer Pierhead Housing

Company Background

Pierhead Housing is a key housing provider with over 1800 properties based in Liverpool, Sefton and the Wirral. Pierhead provides housing for those in need, including general needs, students, key workers and shared ownership. Pierhead is committed to improving the lives of the community it serves through housing and neighbourhood initiatives and is a key player in landmark urban regeneration schemes across Merseyside.

The Challenge

The Internet is absolutely vital to the company and plays a significant role in helping to improve efficiency and streamline operations. With the growth and dynamic nature of the web, the company believed that it needed to have more effective visibility and control on how the Internet was being used.

Pierhead had been using another web filtering solution to manage employee Internet access and to protect their users and network from web security threats, but were unhappy with some aspects of the solution.

“The main problem was the amount of time we were spending managing the system and configuring the software, and in particular blocking sites that were not listed in the URL database,” said Craig Jones, ICT Officer at Pierhead. “In addition the inflexibility of the reporting that was available on users’ Internet activity was a big drawback.”

Jones was looking for a web filtering system that could categorise and filter web pages automatically to significantly reduce management time. The system also needed to easily produce reports on departmental Internet usage.

The Solution

After evaluating a number of different web filtering systems, Jones realised that the Bloxx web filtering appliance was a perfect fit for the company’s requirements. The Bloxx web filter uses Tru-View Technology to analyse and categorise web pages when they are requested, and so virtually eliminates the need to manually block or allow access to web sites.

The Results

“The Bloxx appliance was very easy to integrate into our network and configuration was straightforward due to the LDAP integration facility,” notes Jones. “I also liked the fact that it is a hardware solution, so it doesn’t have to rely on the specification or performance of an existing server.”

A weekly report is now automatically sent to each department head, giving them a breakdown of their department’s top users and most popular websites.

“The automatic reporting is a big bonus for me – it has significantly reduced the amount of administration time spent and gives managers absolute confidence that everyone is using the Internet as we would wish.”

Jones is also delighted with the automatic categorisation of web pages provided by Tru-View Technology.

“In general, I am confident that the Bloxx appliance is blocking and allowing exactly what I want it to, with virtually zero administration effort required by me. That’s a big difference from before.”

Staff productivity and awareness of appropriate Internet use has also improved since the system was installed.

“I would say that staff productivity has definitely increased. Staff are now more aware of how and when they should be using the Internet and understanding its use as a business tool. We have seen a big decrease in non-work related surfing.”

“My job has been made easier by the reduced admin time, the departmental heads are safe in the knowledge that their staff are using the Internet wisely and there is all-round confidence in the system within the company,” enthuses Jones.

“We were looking for a web filter that would help us reduce management time and give us better control over staff use of the Internet – in both cases, this has been achieved, very quickly and easily.”