IBM said it is working with New York City after officials blamed the company for technical issues that prevented nearly a million students from accessing their remote learning portal Tuesday morning after in-school classes were canceled due to a snowstorm.
During a press conference Tuesday, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks expressed frustration over the widespread glitches and said the problems were "completely tied to the work we do with IBM."
"IBM was the one who authenticates users and the usernames and, in a word, IBM was not ready for prime time," Banks said.
Mayor Eric Adams said the snafu was a teachable moment for the city and that he hoped it was a teachable moment for IBM, too, adding, "We expect more from our partners and our vendors to give us the product that we're paying for, and today they did not do that."
IBM acknowledged the problems in a statement on Tuesday, saying, "IBM has been working closely with New York City schools to address this situation as quickly as possible. The issues have been largely resolved, and we regret the inconvenience to students and parents across the city."
The company sent FOX Business the same statement Wednesday morning when asked for an update.
New York City's public schools resumed in-person learning on Wednesday. It is unclear whether IBM has addressed the problems to prevent them from happening again.
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Banks said the city would conduct a full assessment of what caused the technology issues. By the time of Tuesday's press conference, he said roughly 850,000 students had gained remote learning access.
