OKFB Slashes Disaster Recovery Times to Under One Hour with 11:11 Systems

Quick Summary

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance (OKFB) has partnered with 11:11 Systems to implement a robust disaster recovery strategy. By deploying Managed DRaaS and AWS connectivity, the insurer reduced system recovery times from eight hours to under sixty minutes, ensuring business continuity during severe weather events in Tornado Alley.

How Does OKFB Protect Policyholders During Severe Weather?

Operating in the heart of Tornado Alley, OKFB requires resilient cloud infrastructure to ensure that claims and policy processing remain online when customers need them most. By moving from simple data replication to a managed recovery model, the insurer has established a functional "hot site" strategy. This ensures that even if physical offices or local networks are compromised by natural disasters, the digital backbone of the company remains accessible.

• Under 60 minutes recovery time for critical systems.
• 140,000 member families protected by improved system uptime.
• 77 Oklahoma counties served by a more resilient digital network.

What Results Has 11:11 Systems Delivered for OKFB?

The primary impact of the disaster recovery strategy is the drastic reduction in Recovery Time Objectives (RTO). OKFB initially targeted an eight-hour window for system restoration; however, through 11:11 Systems' managed services, they achieved validated recovery metrics of less than one hour. This performance provides the executive leadership with the auditable assurance required for modern regulatory and operational compliance in the insurance sector.

“When I joined OKFB, our executive leadership asked to see a disaster recovery plan (DRP). They wanted assurance that we were testing regularly, running comprehensive audits and that we knew exactly what we would do in case of a disaster,” said Lydia Kulman, Director of Information Systems, OKFB.

“With 11:11 Systems, I can confidently guarantee those things and more,” added Lydia Kulman, Director of Information Systems, OKFB.

How Does Managed Connectivity Simplify AWS Integration?

Beyond disaster recovery, OKFB utilized 11:11 Managed Connectivity for AWS Direct Connect to solve complex networking hurdles. When a key technology vendor shifted its requirements, OKFB needed a secure cloud link without the internal overhead of managing complex AWS architecture. 11:11 Systems provided a turnkey connectivity solution that reduced the implementation burden on OKFB’s internal IT team while maintaining high-speed access to mission-critical cloud applications.

FF NEWS TAKE:

This partnership highlights a critical shift in the insurance industry: moving from passive backups to active, tested disaster recovery. For a regional insurer like OKFB, downtime isn't just a technical glitch - it's a failure to serve victims of natural disasters. By slashing recovery times by over 85%, 11:11 Systems proves that managed infrastructure solutions are no longer a luxury but a fundamental requirement for operational resilience in high-risk geographies.