Security Benefit, a 116 year old, Kansas based financial services institution has tapped CoSentry Business Resiliency Networks to help the firm increase its level of protection while lowering the total cost of its business continuity program.

"In recent days, we have seen how keeping financial institutions up and running is fundamental to the economy and how catastrophic events can disrupt the flow of business on a major scale," stated Manny Quevedo, Vice President of Business Development for CoSentry. "CoSentry is a global business resiliency leader that can help financial institutions like Security Benefit maintain the highest levels of availability no matter what," added Quevedo.

"Each day millions of dollars worth of financial transactions are processed across our trading systems. Anything that disrupts this process for even a few minutes can create exposure to large losses for the firm," cautioned Kevin Cohen, Vice President of Information Technology. "These factors coupled with compliance mandates, risk requirements, and market forces have heightened the awareness and importance of business continuity planning in the financial services industry," he remarked.

According to Cohen, Security Benefit has always been committed to safeguarding the interests of their clients no matter what the event. "We aim for 99-plus percent reliability at all times. And our successful partnership with CoSentry greatly enhances our ability to maintain that goal even in the event of a major disaster or system outage," Cohen commented.

According to Cohen, separation is a key element of the Security Benefit overall business resiliency plan. "We were excited about what CoSentry offered because their technology systems were located in multiple facilities that were far enough apart to diminish any risks posed by local disruptions yet close enough for easy access by our staff," Cohen mentioned. In fact, the results of our initial tests indicate our customers would be able to continue to conduct business either without interruption or within 3 hours," added Cohen. "Our prior recovery solutions called for up to 48 hours of downtime."