Holborn fire highlights benefits of Cloud as a DR solution

HolbornFireARTICLELaw firms and barristers chambers based in central London, using Advanced Legal’s hosted platform were able to continue working despite the disruption caused by an underground fire, which broke out in the Holborn area last week. The fire saw more than 5000 people evacuated from the area and the cost of disruption to businesses is predicted to exceed £40 million.
Chris O’Brien, 4 Stone Buildings, says, “Incidents like this will always be unexpected but you can be prepared for them. Having our chambers management software solution MLC hosted in the cloud by Advanced Legal meant the impact of the outage was minimal. Our barristers were able to quickly relocate and continue their work without any issues.”
Martin Parker, Senior Clerk at Mansfield Chambers, also comments, “Obviously the incident caused massive disruption for many. Thanks to Advanced’s hosted solution we were able to minimise its impact. We experienced a small amount of downtime whilst we moved operations and then we were able to resume work as if nothing had happened.”
Doug Hargrove, Managing Director, Advanced Legal, says, “It often isn’t until a major incident occurs that we are reminded just how important business continuity is. Whether it’s a full hosted solution or a disaster recovery back-up plan, it’s key to ensure you can continue to service and support your clients in the wake of a major incident.
The fire, which broke out on April 1st was put out by London Fire Brigade on Good Friday after burning for 36 hours. During the loss of power 3000 properties were affected and eight theatres were forced to cancel performances.