Reports: Computer server crash on the very first day of online CAT

vIndianz.com (28 Nov, 2009) — The first computer-based Common Admission Test for admission to IIMs kicked off today in the midst of reports that the computer server had crashed in many centers. Reports said there were glitches and disturbances in some centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bhopal.

Nevertheless, IIM, Bangalore, Director Prof Pankaj Chandra said the first session of the test was a “smooth affair”. “It has been a smooth affair. There was no server crash throughout the exam,” he told PTI.

Asked in relation to the reports of technical glitches, he said, “There might be a few instances of virus attack in the computers at certain centers. But at this stage I cannot substantiate”.

Meanwhile, Ulhas Vairagkar, director of the TIME institute, a preparatory school for IIM aspirants, said, “We got calls from students in six cities saying they were not able to give the examination since the computer system crashed. The students have been told they be able to take an additional time slot”.

It was the first time the CAT was conducted across India on computers — as conflicting optical reading marker. The Indian Institutes of Management, which carry out the exam, said they would comment later. It was not clear how many students were affected Saturday.

An American firm, Prometric, which has developed the computer system for CAT, said it would be capable to evaluate what went wrong only by around 2 pm. Around 50,000 students are to appear for the examination in Delhi over a 10-day period. The test is programmed in 32 cities at 105 centers, all linked to a main server.

IIMs and Prometric had issued a disclaimer to all the students appearing for the examination to abstain from discussing the latest format and questions till Dec 7 when the exam timetable ends. Last year, almost 276,000 students across India took the examination. Some experts said before that the fall in registrations this year was due to CAT going hi-tech.

CAT scores decide admission to the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Lucknow, Kozhikode and Shillong in addition to the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon, Institute of Management Training in Ghaziabad, Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad and Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research in Mumbai.

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Reports: Computer server crash on the very first day of online CAT

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