SMB Startup Watch: Rawstream Helps Monitor and Manage Internet ...

Firmology?s SMB Startup Watch?profiles newly launched or emerging startups in the SMB (small and medium-sized business) technology space.

Your business is plugging through the height of the business day and your computer network has slowed down to an obscene crawl with several of your employees spending their working hours on file-sharing sites. The computer network is now playing host to a multitude of malware breaking down productivity and security. With your system on the verge of a detrimental crash, you?re left wondering how you could have prevented this situation in the first place.

Internet security is just one of the concerns businesses have about employee internet use. Unfiltered web browsing can create bandwidth issues from bandwidth-consuming sites, such as video streaming, and loss of productivity from social networking sites and gambling portals.

Fortunately, small businesses can prevent situations like this with a little thoughtful planning and by using powerful content-filtering tools like?Rawstream.

Rawstream helps small businesses manage employee internet use and helps prevent internet malware from destroying their computer systems.

The London-based tech startup aims to secure web access and increase small business employee productivity through its cloud-based web-filtering service.

Founder?Brian Azzopardi created Rawstream to ?disrupt the web-filtering market for SMBs,? which is dominated by vendors whose software is hard to install and becomes?increasingly moreexpensive as a small business grows.

?Our customer is the SMB which uses a mix of PCs Macs and iPads, Dropbox as their fileserver, Mozy as their backup, and Google Apps or Office 365 as their email client,? said Azzopardi.

Rawstream also offers flexibility that other vendors might not be able to offer if their service is only compatible with one type of hardware, software, or service.

Here?s How Rawstream Works

1. Sign up and configure your network to use the Rawstream DNS servers.
2. Create and enforce an internet usage policy to filter websites based on categories like gambling, parked domains, SPAM, questionable, malware, and dead sites. Websites may also be filtered based on their domain.
3. Monitor employee internet use in real-time using the Rawstream dashboard.

While studies show that?employees do spend time at work browsing the web for personal use, Rawstream gives users the ability to monitor sites versus banning them outright, giving businesses time to figure out the underlying reasons for their employees? browsing habits while creating a policy that works for everyone without being overbearing.

Businesses interested in trying out Rawstream can?check out the live demo site?or?sign up for beta access?free for up to 10 seats.

Startups featured on?Firmology?s SMB Startup Watch?are in continuous development, so they?re eager to get feedback about their product from small businesses. We encourage you to leave a comment for them below, join their invite list or try out the service if it?s already live.

To contact the writer on this story: Philip Nowak in Chicago at philip.nowak@firmology.com. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laura Whitener in Chicago at lauraw@firmology.com. Please?contact us?if you?d like your small business tech startup to be featured on?SMB Startup Watch.

Written by Philip Nowak

Philip Nowak is the founder of Firmology, a?news and information media company focused on helping small business owners grow their business through?small business technology?and innovation.?You can find Philip on?Google+,?Twitter?and?LinkedIn.

Source: http://www.firmology.com/2012/09/06/smb-startup-watch-rawstream-helps-monitor-and-manage-internet-usage/

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