Exams can be stressful. Test-takers spend countless hours preparing, studying, and learning in order to put themselves in the best position to succeed. When exam day arrives, they feel like nothing can stop them. So imagine their surprise when just before the exam begins, they are informed that the test delivery platform has gone down.
This can be devastating for test-takers and can have serious effects on their pursuit to receive a certification. By the time they are able to re-take the exam, their confidence level could be much lower, leading to worse results. Plus, they may now find themselves worrying about whether the exam will go down again, rather than focusing on the contents of the exam. That’s why uptime, the period during which a system is operational, isn’t just a technical metric; it’s the foundation of fairness, security, and success.
Over the past 12 months, Kryterion has experienced 100% uptime for its Webassessor® platform. In other words, while other test delivery companies have had to spend time explaining and apologizing why their systems have gone down, Kryterion has been doing exactly what they were hired to do, which is, quite simply, work. Let’s take a closer look at why this is so important.
The Cost of Downtime for Certification Exams
For certification programs, the costs of a system failure are far worse than just a quick technical fix. Downtime is a source of immense stress and anxiety for test-takers due to:
- Wasted Effort: Hours, weeks, or even months of preparation can feel instantly invalidated. A candidate’s cognitive flow is violently disrupted, making it nearly impossible to regain focus even if the system is restored.
- Career Delays: Certification often has a direct link to employment, salary, or licensing. A system failure can mean re-scheduling the exam, leading to critical delays in career advancement and potential financial loss.
- Erosion of Trust: A negative testing experience can severely damage a candidate’s trust in the certification body and the entire credentialing process.
For the certification organization, downtime strikes at the heart of their mission and can have practically irreversible effects, including:
- Compromised Integrity: An interrupted exam may not be legally defensible. Issues during testing can lead to challenges, invalidating scores, and creating complex, time-consuming appeals processes.
- Reputational Damage: Word spreads fast in professional communities. A single outage can lead to a deluge of negative reviews, damaging the reputation of the credential and making the program appear unreliable.
- Operational Burden: Every technical incident generates support tickets, requires proctor intervention, necessitates re-scheduling, and involves significant administrative overhead, all of which drains resources and increases operational costs.
Kryterion’s Uptime Commitment
Kryterion’s pursuit of maximum uptime is an essential investment in the integrity and credibility of the high-stakes exams they deliver. This reliability is achieved through a multi-layered approach to technology and delivery, including:
- Global, Redundant Infrastructure: Kryterion’s test delivery platform, Webassessor®, is supported by a robust, scalable global network.
- Cloud-Based Architecture: Utilizing advanced cloud services allows for redundancy, failover, and dynamic scaling to handle peak testing volumes without strain.
- Global Test Center Network (KTN): With a network of professional testing locations across the globe, the system makes sure that physical locations operate under strict technical and environmental requirements, including reliable power and internet.
- Multi-Modal Delivery: Kryterion offers various secure delivery options, from global test centers to AI-enhanced online proctoring, each designed with maximum availability in mind. This redundancy in delivery options further insulates the testing program from single-point-of-failure issues.
Proactive Monitoring and Security
The goal of complete and total uptime is not just about having backup systems. It’s also about preventing failures in the first place. To achieve this, Kryterion uses:
- 24/7 Monitoring: Proactive monitoring tools watch the entire system continuously, allowing teams to detect and resolve minor issues before they escalate into full-blown outages.
- Secure Browser Technology: The use of a secure, lockdown browser minimizes the risk of local device conflicts that could interrupt an exam.
The Value of Reliability
When candidates know the platform is reliable, they can focus 100% of their energy on the exam content. This creates the optimal environment for them to perform their best. Additionally, certification bodies can launch global programs with confidence, knowing their partner has the robust, reliable infrastructure necessary to protect their intellectual property and maintain the integrity of their credentials.
Kryterion’s dedication to a flawless user experience with 100% uptime sets the benchmark for professional certification delivery. In the end, a reliable platform is the promise that a professional’s hard work will be respected and that their path to certification will be decided solely on their merit, not on the stability of a server. So take a break from writing outage emails and schedule a demo today.
About Kryterion
Kryterion Inc. is a global leader in innovative testing and credentialing solutions, helping organizations across various sectors develop and manage their assessments with our advanced test development platform and multi-modal delivery solutions. Established in 2001, Kryterion offers secure, integrated services and extensive support, empowering candidates to demonstrate skills and achieve success in world-class careers.