Why you should care about your AMC

Based on my experience as an implementation specialist, I can say with confidence that Annual Maintenance Contracts are probably the most ignored aspect of any enterprise software deployment exercise. Picture this, serious funds have been invested in implementing a solution that will help smoothen internal data flow, enable work to happen across geographical barriers, handle inventory, supply chain, well quite a lot actually. This system is the central nervous system of the organisation handling business critical aspects. Now imagine this entire endeavor being left to degenerate without a potent support in the form of an AMC.

How it works

Software products are produced by ISVs (Independent Software Vendors). Out of these products some are for general use and some are specialised for specific verticals. In either case, the ISV is not the one who does the implementation of the software, this calls for Independent System Integrators. System Integrators are vendors that may specialise in the configuration, customisation and implementation various enterprise products. It is not uncommon to get multiple brands of software from a single vendor. ISVs have sales partners as the aforementioned system integrators. Most enterprise solution commercials can be broken down to the license cost, the cost towards the effort of implementation(& customization) and the cost for AMC. The license cost is a split between the ISV and the channel partner (the %of the split varies based on the “band” of the system integrator). The Cost towards the effort of implementation and the AMC goes to the system integrator. So you see, the entire onus of proper implementation and the post sale customer support is the responsibility of the system integrator.

Why AMC?

Good question, glad you asked. Allow me to iterate

Clearly, Support

Employee churning, basic refreshers, tech support, as time progresses with the deployment, support tickets will be raised. Technical or functional support is something that keeps coming up from time to time. AMC acts as a support net that takes care of these making sure so that the productivity of your business is unaffected.

Staying up to date

All ISVs release updates for their products from time to time. It’s absolutely important to have them at your end. Why? Because these updates contain version boosts, new features, cyber security patches. Having these updates means that you are getting the biggest bang for your bucks. Under the AMC from your system integrator your system will always remain safe, secure and up to date and current.

Recovery from

System disruptions are not just a possibility, but an eventuality. Unforeseen events like catastrophic hardware failures can lead to business disruptions that may require fresh installation of the software. Fresh installation requires specific activities like installation of dependencies like SQL, etc. Fresh configuration, recovery from backup and re configuration of reports mandate specialised technical support. An AMC ensures that don’t lose precious time you have this specialist support when you need it. An AMC can look like something that you can do without, but really it is life ring that can save you money owing to system outages. An AMC gives back its worth in value just as soon as the first ticket issue is raised. An AMC = to a pound wise and a penny wiser.