Case Study: IT Crisis Management & Infrastructure Recovery at Drivy
In IT leadership, you plan for every contingency, but true capability is often demonstrated when the unexpected happens.
In February 2018, while at Drivy, we faced a significant crisis: a fire broke out on a lower floor of our office building, sending smoke and soot through the utility shafts and compromising critical infrastructure.
The Challenge: From Crisis Discovery to Business Continuity
The fire started on a Saturday while the building was empty, but the business impact was immediate.
With firefighters blocking all access to the building, our entire on-site network infrastructure was down and inaccessible. The fire had impacted the building’s technical closets, rendering key components of our network inoperable.
My primary objective was clear: ensure a fully operational and stable network environment to allow over 100 employees to return to work seamlessly as soon as the building was cleared by the authorities.
With the CEO’s full trust and a carte blanche to resolve the situation, I immediately partnered with the Office Manager to execute a rapid recovery plan.
My Approach: A Methodical Response Under Pressure
My immediate priority was to conduct a thorough and systematic damage assessment. While our teams were temporarily relocated to coworking spaces, I initiated a multi-point inspection:
- External Connectivity (WAN): I visually inspected the building’s technical rooms and liaised directly with our Internet Service Provider to confirm the integrity of our primary fiber optic link.
- Internal Infrastructure: I meticulously tested all internal hardware, including switches and access points. This process quickly isolated the point of failure: our main network router was inoperable due to electric damage.
With a precise diagnosis, I moved from assessment to resolution. The timeline was extremely tight. Leveraging my network of trusted vendors, I negotiated the expedited acquisition of a new router that met both our technical requirements and budget.
The key technical challenge was that the new router was from a different manufacturer, requiring me to quickly adapt and configure a new system to match our existing network architecture; a task that demanded both technical knowledge and adaptability under pressure.
The Outcome: A Seamless Return and a Stronger Foundation
As a direct result of this swift and methodical approach, the new network infrastructure was fully deployed, configured, and tested before the deadline.
The return to the office was smooth, with zero IT-related disruptions for our employees.
This incident served as a powerful real-world stress test of my ability to manage crises, make critical decisions under pressure, and combine technical skills with strategic vendor management.
More importantly, the lessons learned and the architecture I designed during this recovery process became an invaluable blueprint for the more complex network infrastructure I would later deploy for the company’s new headquarters.
It was a clear demonstration that effective IT leadership isn’t just about maintaining systems, but about ensuring business resilience in the face of any challenge.