Case study by David Leong - CIO, Arnold Bloch Leibler
Our Background
Arnold Bloch Leibler is a pre-eminent legal firm, with a history spanning 60 years and has offices in Sydney and Melbourne.
I’ve been with Arnold Bloch Leibler for 18 years and hold the position of Chief Information Officer. In this capacity, I am responsible for IT strategy and the IT business priorities for the firm.
Our clients include entrepreneurial businesses (ASX-listed, family-owned and international) as well as professional advisors – accountants, private equity firms, insolvency practitioners, private bankers and overseas-based specialist law firms.
The CIO agenda has changed significantly over the years with the increased adoption of cloud services and the maturity of digital platforms. Data security is critical and is one of our highest priorities. Strategic IT business priorities such as, information management, mobility, process improvement and innovation programmes are underpinned by IT best practices including a well-defined security plan that incorporate data classification, safe custody, access controls, content filtering, virus detection, early threat detection, identity management and data loss protection – all the above are considered when assessing the firm’s risk management profile and exposure.
The Goal
Over the years, we have partnered with many IT service providers for strategic advice and support. Our strategy to move IT workloads and services to a cloud-based digital platform presented numerous IT security challenges as traditional “on-premise” data centre solutions were no longer acceptable. Protecting our information from IT cyber-attacks, human error and environmental disasters required a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution.
The Selection
We conducted a gap analysis - Internal IT staff capability vs Data security requirements and it was clear we didn’t have the depth of subject matter expertise and a support structure to meet the business requirement. Engaging an external provider was the best option. I was introduced to The Missing Link at a legal technology conference (LawTech) and engaged them to demonstrate their competence through a Proof of Value IT security audit and cyber security penetration test.
The Missing Link provided a comprehensive review of our security that was measured against the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) security standard. Their review also provided a strategic plan and action plan to achieve the level of maturity the business was seeking. This gave us confidence The Missing Link had a clearly defined framework, expertise, experience and knowledge of the legal industry.
The Missing Link provides the firm with an innovative, cost-effective, cloud-based disaster recovery solution, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) that works with a cloud backup solution. There were no capital costs associated with their DRaaS solution, and this was implemented non-disruptively in a timely manner.
Our Relationship
The Missing Link is one of our trusted partners in the data security space.
The Missing Link team is easy to work with, knowledgeable and exceptionally responsive. Staff are progressive and passionate about their work and always look to value add their current solutions using innovative products. Our account manager always treats our requests with a sense of urgency and importance.
The Difference
The DRaaS, cloud backup and data security services The Missing Link provides is crucial to our business. With The Missing Link as our trusted partner, I have peace of mind knowing our data is safe and The Missing Link is available to us 24x7. They provide a service that we could not have achieved in-house.
The Missing Link’s point of difference comes from their client-focused senior management team, highly competent staff, industry experience and client care. These are attributes that drive their success.
