Modernizing Farm Bureau's Patronage...

Customer Profile

Farm Bureau Financial Services is a diversified financial services organization that operates in affiliation with the American Farm Bureau Federation. With a strong presence in rural communities across the United States, Farm Bureau Financial Services offers a wide range of insurance and financial products. These include auto, home, farm, and life insurance, as well as investment and retirement planning services. The company’s mission is to provide peace of mind and financial security to its customers, with a particular focus on serving the unique needs of rural and agricultural communities. With a long history of serving its clients, Farm Bureau Financial Services combines a deep understanding of the challenges faced by rural residents and farmers with a commitment to personalized financial solutions and community involvement.

Challenges

Farm Bureau had been using a 30+ year-old mainframe technology for their patronage allocation system. The system was non-web based, difficult to use, and relied heavily on keyboard navigation using codes and function keys. It lacked support for multiple concurrent users, limited onscreen visibility to past allocations and redemptions and UI display of sensitive information did not follow standards. Data backup and recovery were manual processes, causing significant downtime in case of errors. Additionally, the Farm Bureau faced a shortage of IBM mainframe skills for support and enhancements.

Solution

Farm Bureau engaged Enkaytech, a team of skilled and certified Azure developers, to modernize their patronage allocation system. The solution included the following components:

Azure Infrastructure: Enkaytech implemented a scalable Azure Infrastructure using Common Application Gateway V2 with WAF, Azure Web Application Firewall V2, Load Balancers, custom domains, and back-end databases.

Azure Resources: They leveraged Azure services such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Blob Storage, Azure App Insights, Azure App Services, Azure Key Vault, Azure Cognitive Search, and Web APIs to build the new application.

Security: Application security was a top priority. Access control was managed using Azure Active Directory groups. All URLs were encrypted, and application data was encrypted/decrypted using Advanced Encryption System (AES).

User-Friendly Interface: Enkaytech implemented a rich user interface that made the patronage allocation process transparent, filterable, and traceable. Changes could be reverted without manual database recovery. Users could search, filter, and view past allocations and redemptions on-screen.

Reporting: The new system allowed users to easily download reports in Excel or PDF format.

Deployment: The application was deployed using Azure DevOps with approval-triggered release pipelines, following best practices for a seamless deployment process.

Results

The implementation of the modernized patronage allocation system yielded several key results for the Farm Bureau:

• Enhanced Security: The new system ensured data security with encryption and access control, reducing the risk of data breaches.
• Scalability: The system could scale on demand, reducing infrastructure costs during periods of lower usage.
• User-Friendly: The new interface was intuitive and user-friendly, making it easier for staff to navigate and perform their tasks efficiently.
• Cloud-Based & Serverless: Farm Bureau transitioned from a legacy mainframe to a cloud-based, serverless architecture, reducing maintenance costs.
• Modern User Interface: The system featured a modern UI, responsive across different devices, including mobile, tablets, and desktops.
• Availability: Running on Azure’s highly available platform with robust SLAs ensured system uptime and reliability.
• Reduced Skills Gap: Farm Bureau could rely on both their in-house team and Enkaytech for application support and development. Skills for maintaining and enhancing the system were readily available in the marketplace, especially for .NET and C#.

Overall, Farm Bureau successfully modernized its patronage allocation system, providing a secure, user-friendly, and scalable solution that aligned with industry standards and reduced its reliance on outdated technology and limited skill sets.

Testimonial

“We needed to upgrade our outdated and unfriendly program to a new and user-friendly one. Enkaytech delivered a robust and complex program that met our needs. They worked with us through the challenges of scheduling, staffing, and knowledge transfer. They also helped us clean up 40 years of data and align it with the new rules enforced by the program. Enkaytech was a great partner in this process and provided us with excellent guidance and support.” – Director of Finance

Ready to modernize your organization’s systems and processes like Farm Bureau did with Azure? Contact us today to discuss how Azure can revolutionize your operations, streamline processes, and provide a competitive edge.