Home → Customers → Case Studies → EOL IT Services

EOL IT Services Keeps its Network Secure with Bloxx Web & Email Filters

Background

EOL IT Services is one of the UK’s leading independent IT asset disposal and data security companies. Established in 1996, EOL IT Services is a trusted IT service provider to many leading organisations in banking, law, financial services, healthcare, education and the public sector. The company provides a range of IT services ranging from secure computer recycling to complete data destruction. EOL IT Services offers businesses the ability to manage the lifecycle of their IT assets in a manner that is environmentally friendly and socially responsible, whilst offering a value return opportunity for IT disposal.
EOL IT Services is based in Maldon, Essex.

The Challenge

EOL IT Services had been using MessageLabs’ cloud Web filter, but had encountered a number of challenges with this. In particular, the off-site proxy gave the team less direct control over operations, and the combination of a poor user interface and policy management which were not user-friendly caused significant problems.

These problems further impacted EOL since they meant it was difficult to make accurate adjustments to individual policies without causing issues in other places. Updating was a slow process, sometimes taking up to 4 hours for changes in policies to be activated.
When day-to-day management of the existing Web filter became overwhelming, EOL IT Services decided to look for a new Web filtering vendor.

The Solution

In late 2010, EOL purchased a Bloxx 100W Web Filter along with a 100E Email Filter in order to manage Web and email security and usage at the company. The combination of the two products created an online working environment that was both safe and secure.

The Results

Having experienced such significant challenges with their previous solution from MessageLabs, the team at EOL needed a Web filter which was easy to manage and quick to update, as Fraser Ruthven explains: “By implementing the Bloxx Web Filter, we were expecting it to be much quicker to manage and have more control over policies and general settings. It’s definitely met our aims here, as Access Control and Web Site Wizards on the Bloxx Web Filter make it much easier to administer access rules.”

The reporting functionality in the Bloxx Web Filter and Email Filter is also proving extremely beneficial to EOL, as Ruthven comments: “We consult the reports on a weekly basis, and use the information gained from the reports to identify any problem Web sites or users, and to diagnose issues with email delivery failures.”

“The key benefits that EOL has experienced as a result of installing the Bloxx Web and Email Filters are really around ease-of-use: it is much easier to monitor issues with mail and set up access policies based on work groups than with our previous product. It’s definitely made our jobs easier in this regard.”

Furthermore, Bloxx’s on-site installation and technical support team has made the experience painless for EOL: “We found the on-site installation and training very straightforward, which was great. The technical support team at Bloxx is extremely knowledgeable and have been able to solve the few problems we have had quickly and efficiently.”

Not only is Bloxx saving EOL IT Services time by increasing productivity and lowering IT management time, the new Web and Email Filters have saved the company money too, says Ruthven: “The Bloxx Web and Email Filters are cheaper than our previous MessageLabs solution, and they are also cheaper to scale for more users and email volumes.”

Ruthven concludes, “EOL IT Services are ISO 27001 accredited, and the safety of our own and clients’ data is extremely important to us. The Bloxx Web and Email Filters contribute significantly to securing EOL’s systems, and are a great improvement on what EOL used before.”