KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- 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."

About CoSentry

CoSentry serves as a one source provider of business continuity and managed technical services. Founded in 2000, CoSentry provides Systems, Work Group, Print and Mail Recovery solutions. In today's ALWAYS ON business environment, market leaders benefit from CoSentry's world-class services to keep their businesses running - no matter what. The company also provides diverse and robust collocation and managed Internet services. CoSentry is headquartered in Omaha, Neb., with network centers in Omaha, Kansas City, Mo., and Sioux Falls, S.D. For more information about CoSentry, please visit www.cosentry.com.

About Security Benefit

Security Benefit (www.securitybenefit.com) is built upon more than 100 years of tradition and provides individual and group retirement and asset management solutions through independent brokers and financial representatives in all 50 states. The firm manages roughly $31 billion in total assets and ranks in the top 10% of insurance companies nationwide. Through their business process outsourcing subsidiary, se2, the firm services an additional $52 billion in assets under administration for other financial institutions.

    Contact:  Manny Quevedo
              Vice President Business Development
              402-492-7800
              mquevedo@cosentry.com

SOURCE CoSentry