Leading ITC Suppliers Westcoastcloud and Forensic Software Partner to Offer Complete e-Safety Solution for Schools

LONDON, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Comprehensive Cloud e-Safety Solution Praised by Childcare Expert Professor Tanya Byron

Two of the UK's leading suppliers of e-safety, Westcoastcloud and Forensic Software, have partnered up to offer the most comprehensive online child protection solution yet to the education sector.

The all-in-one cloud service 'Netintelligence powered by Forensic Software,' offers schools and local authorities a truly integrated e-safety solution that includes real time monitoring, web filtering, blocking and policy enforcement which is backed by the UK's only Kitemark for Child Online Safety PAS 74.

Until now, no single solution has been available to be used across multiple internet-connected devices.

The solution will provide educational establishments with a complete e-safety tool kit to combat the threats of cyber bullying, harassment and grooming as well as sites containing inappropriate content such as the promotion of suicide, self-harm and pornography.

This new partnership between Westcoastcloud and Forensic Software has been welcomed by the child psychologist, author, newspaper columnist and TV presenter, Professor Tanya Byron (PhD, PsychD,MSc, BSc) who led a government review into the risks to children of accessing inappropriate material on the internet.

Professor Byron said: "I welcome this approach by e-safety technology companies combining their resources to provide a far more reaching safety net for children and those who have a duty of care to them.  It's reassuring that the recommendations made in my previous review and the more recent recommendations of the Bailey Review about protecting children online are being taken on board by companies to help deliver the safest possible environments for children and families.

"The fact that this solution is supported by Netintelligence's award of the BSI Kitemark PAS 74 is important. However there is a still a long way to go as we still only have one company that has achieved the official standard."  

The new partnership between the two companies is being launched with the combination of their leading e-safety solutions: Westcoastcloud's 'Netintelligence Enterprise Manager' and Forensic Software's 'Policy Central Enterprise'.

Bill Strain, director of Westcoastcloud, said: "This is a great step forward for the provision of online safety tools to the education market. Bringing these two products together will give schools a more cost effective option when they are looking at what's available in the child internet safety market."

Ellie Puddle, managing director of Forensic Software, said: "Adding our monitoring capabilities to the filtering and blocking ability of Netintelligence will enable teachers and policy makers to be in total control of modifying behaviour and allow them to react better when problems do occur."

About Westcoastcloud

Westcoastcloud delivers business-critical cloud solutions for service providers of all sizes - from small niche specialists to large multinationals. Its range of cloud service solutions suits any market and any provider from consumer to ISP.

Westcoastcloud is part of AIM listed iomart Group plc, one of the UK's leading providers of managed hosting and cloud computing services. From a single server through to complex private cloud networks, iomart specialises in the delivery and management of mission-critical hosting services, enabling customers to reduce the costs, complexity and risks associated with maintaining their own web and online applications.

For more information about Westcoastcloud visit http://www.westcoastcloud.com

For more information about iomart Group plc visithttp://www.iomart.com 

News release issued on behalf of Westcoastcloud by Jane Robertson, Head of PR for iomart Group plc.
For more information please email jane.robertson@iomart.com or call  +44(0)141-931-6400 or +44(0)7827948993 (mob).
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