We raised the question earlier ‘Online Exams – Can they Survive the Load?’ and there are reports that CAT servers in few centers faced overload problem and even though CAT Convenor do not want to accept the word ‘crash’, they have mentioned that exams at few centers(Blore, Chennai, LKO and Bhopal) were disrupted in few centers in and students were asked to take a new date.
As far as CAT is concerned (CAT, i.e. Common Admission Test will be held during Nov 28th – December 7th), Prometric which won the contract (valued at ~$40mn deal) partnered with NIIT for the operational support and we will get to know the real story (i.e. whether its a crash or server overload problem) very soon.
Earlier, IGNOU’s attempt to held an online exam resulted in crash and IGNOU had asked it’s partner, Yahoo for a detailed response.
Also, since CAT is being held over a period of 10 days, IIMs have put a disclaimer on their site warning that anybody who attempts to leak the question will face 3 years of jail (or fine of Rs. 2 lakhs)
Disclosing, publishing, reproducing, transmitting, storing, or facilitating transmission and storage of the contents of the CAT or any information therein in whole or part thereof in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronically or mechanically for any purpose, shall be in violation of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and/or the Copyright Act, 1957 and/or the Information Technology Act.
Back to the question we earlier asked – Are exam authorities jumping the gun by going online too soon?
Unpreparedness is how one can describe the CATastrophy!
Hopeless as ever…
Which company was associated with this project, eh?? 
Hopeless indeed. How many applicants were there? Under 5 lacs I suppose. Is it so damn difficult to keep your application up for this little traffic, especially when you have the freedom to predict and distribute the load as you wish?
And don’t get me started on the 40mn$ figure. This is sheer waste of taxpayers’ money. #fail @NIIT.
The effort is bold and will take shape definitely in near future…That is if they are ready to use the data generated through experience in the first effort
i doubt they are even collecting data …
I hate these exams anyway … never gave it a flick or chance to disappoint me
The bright IIM chaps shud have done a feasibility study before kicking starting.
If they have done ehuf, they shud pitch and implement their “risk management” strategies
Why did the #CAT crash? Because it couldn’t handle so many clicking mice
In these days when there are load balancing software and techniques! They have made a farce out of online exams.
Definition of negligence :
a. Failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
b. Failure to use reasonable due care to avoid a foreseeable harm to a person, place, or thing.
c. Prometric and the CAT 2009 boffins
They should have learnt from the catastrophe of IGNOU and Yahoo!
One of those things that happen only in India…powerful motherfuckers continue embarrassing common Indians
the intitative taken by IIMs to take prometric approach for getting CAT exam conducted is something new and appreciable to some extent.as they have decided to copy GMAT/GRE format which is conducted round the globe round the clock.but seeing the plight of candidates IIM people need to understand that due to paucity of resources and traditional admission process that takes place in indian colleges it still has a long way to run to meet its western counterparts.if the number of students who are facing this problem reaches upto 50% of number of apllicants then better is paper pencil test for the forthcoming year.
While the move to go online might seem obvious and prophetic even, there are mass inefficiencies with such a process and these should be dealt with before any plans for grandeur.
“geographical reach..” – Can you ensure equality in terms of bandwidth and network connectivity PAN India, let alone system compatibility., etc? If nothing else, this is a disadvantage to rural students who take up the exams in remote areas.
“reduces human error..” – Where multiple sets are involved, the system is inherently flawed. it is IMPOSSIBLE to ensure consistency in the level of difficulty of all question paper sets without compromise.
- all this management gyaan, and they could not even get themselves a decent vendor. The kind of statements being issued by Ramesh Nava, or whoever at Prometric, eschews gross negligence. Lucky for them they will get away, unlike any Indian company.
There is more to follow..
i work in the Evaluation Team @ eLitmus, a startup, and we shifted to pen and paper a couple of years back. Thanks to IIM’s for helping us substantiate our argument with a case study. Like with evaluation, CAT will follow us with a lag!
fuck u and fuck ur shit pathetic elitmus
@cary: dude u people at eLitmus suck harder than anyone else…and u’r boss,thats piece of trash, shireesh will lead u to nowhere better than garbage. Instead of wasting ur life and talent(if u hav any) get into some real job and stop publicising ur crappy business here.
Is there any age limit on the forum? Darn children!
sad enough i’m no child…but u’re damn suckers…and the bullshit u trying to sell over here aint gonna work…plus u’re a piece of crap too
Have not they done automated load testing before going live
Mr. John…
Can u let the world know your reason for bashing elitmus. It will be helpful to us. Elitmus is all over the place and are lining up many premium jobs for freshers. I am confused? Hope ur is not a sour grapes story.
Jane