New Forest believes the Grass is much Greener with Bloxx Web Filtering

“We now have an easy-to-manage, in-house web filtering solution at a significantly lower price that delivers the monitoring power and reporting functionality required to increase user and network protection, and reduce risk and liability.”

Paul Fleetwood, Acting ICT Manager at New Forest National Park Authority

Company Background

The New Forest National Park was created in March 2005 and the New Forest National Park Authority took full power in April 2006. It was chartered to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the park, and to promote opportunities for understanding and enjoyment of the park’s special qualities.

It is the eighth national park in England, the first in the south-east of England and the first to be created for nearly 50 years. The authority has over 80 employees, located at the main office at Lymington and at a small office in Lyndhurst.

The New Forest has long been recognised as a special and important area that needs protection. National Park designation means the strongest possible level of protection for the future.

The Challenge

The Authority’s previous web content filtering and monitoring was provided as a managed service by their Internet Service Provider. The Authority operates a fairly open Internet Usage Policy, allowing staff access to almost any site for business purposes and reasonable personal use in staff’s own time.

However, the authority soon realised that this solution wasn’t delivering all the functionality and capabilities required to deliver effective Internet content filtering. Paul Fleetwood, Acting ICT Manager at New Forest National Park Authority explains: “We found that our existing solution wasn’t giving us enough practical information on usage. A third party software solution was deployed to monitor Internet usage but this soon became unwieldy and unreliable.”

The flexible home working policy operated at the authority also suffered. “Our Internet content filtering solution required the use of an Internet Proxy. This caused issues with our remote access solution that impacted our home workers ability to access the main server,” adds Paul.

The Authority also couldn’t dynamically change site classification. Paul comments: “For sites that needed to be blocked or allowed, we had to submit these to the ISP to be reclassified. This was very time consuming for me and frustrating for the staff.”

The Solution

New Forest National Park Authority deployed a Bloxx Web filtering appliance powered by its patent-pending Tru-View Technology to monitor and report on web content activity by its 80+ staff.

“With the help of IT specialists ASL Security Limited, we directly compared Bloxx and our existing Internet content filtering solution based on our functionality requirements and price,” explains Paul. “We concluded that Bloxx provided all the flexibility, functionality and capabilities we required to more easily manage Internet access at a price that was very competitive.”

The Results

The Authority has been using the solution for nearly a year and is delighted with the results.

“We can now offer different Internet usage parameters to our staff. For example, our Communications team are allowed more flexible access, as many of the news websites contain content that can be restricted.”

“With the relatively simple user interface, I can customise settings for web content and URL blocking dynamically in real-time. Also, our homeworkers are delighted that they are able to access the main server without the problems caused by using the previous solution,” says Paul.

Reporting is a big plus with the Bloxx appliance.

“Monthly reports are automatically generated and emailed to me. Simple reporting provides all the information I need in order to view key indicators, such as top users and top sites visited, and take the necessary action quickly and efficiently. I now have all the intelligence I need at my finger tips to enforce more stringent protection if and when required,” adds Paul.

The appliance was installed for us, we received first rate training and now have an easy to use appliance that exactly meets our unique requirements. The cost is extremely attractive when compared with our previous ISP managed service.

Paul explains: “Bloxx provides us with an appliance on a three-year installation and support deal at a price that is equal to one year’s subscription to the equivalent managed service previously provided by our ISP. I believe that we will make a saving of £6,000 during the three-year cycle of the Bloxx appliance.”

“At New Forest National Park Authority we now have an easy-to-manage, in-house web filtering solution at a significantly lower price that delivers the monitoring power and reporting functionality required to increase user and network protection, and reduce risk and liability,” concludes Paul.