Remote AMC vs On-site AMC: Which One Does Your Office Need?

An IT annual maintenance contract (AMC) can be remote, on-site, or a mix of the two. Remote AMC covers problems an engineer can fix over the internet. On-site AMC adds visits and hardware repair. The right choice depends on where your office is, what usually goes wrong, and whether anyone in the office can handle a cable or a toner change.

The short answer

• Choose remote AMC if your office is outside the provider’s city, most of your calls are about email, printers, Tally or Windows, and your computers are less than five or six years old.
• Choose on-site AMC if you have a server, a lot of old hardware, CCTV or network equipment that fails, or staff who cannot follow simple instructions on a call.
• Mix the two if you are in the provider’s city: remote for most desks, on-site for the server, the main printer and the network.

Side by side

	Remote AMC	On-site AMC
Location	Anywhere with internet	Within the provider’s service area
Software, email, Tally, printer drivers	Yes	Yes
Hardware repair and part replacement	Diagnosis only	Yes
Preventive visits	No	Monthly or quarterly
Speed for software problems	Usually fastest	Depends on travel
Cost	Lower (no travel)	Higher

Look at your last three months of IT problems

Write down every IT problem your office had recently. Mark each one “S” for software or settings and “H” for hardware. If most are S, remote AMC will handle nearly all of your calls. If a third or more are H, you need at least some on-site cover.

Questions to ask any remote AMC provider

1. What are your support hours, and how fast do you pick up a request?
2. How do sessions start? (You should have to approve each one on screen.)
3. What exactly is excluded? Get it in writing.
4. What happens when the fault is hardware?
5. Do you give a GST invoice, and is the business verifiable?
6. Do you support the software you actually use, such as Tally Prime or Microsoft 365?

For the full list of contract clauses to check, see our IT AMC contract checklist.

How CNC does it

Classic Network and Computers has supported offices from New Delhi since 1996. We provide remote AMC to offices anywhere in India, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM IST, billed per device per year. In Delhi NCR we also provide on-site AMC with visits and hardware cover, and many clients combine the two. Remote: remote IT support and remote AMC. On-site: AMC and IT support in Delhi NCR.

Frequently asked questions

What is remote AMC?

A yearly IT support contract in which an engineer fixes software, email, printer, Tally and settings problems over a secure internet session instead of visiting.

Is remote AMC enough for a small office?

For many offices, yes. If most problems are software or settings and the hardware is reasonably new, remote AMC covers nearly all calls. Offices with servers or older hardware usually need some on-site cover too.

Can I switch from remote AMC to on-site AMC later?

With most providers, yes, if you are inside their on-site service area. Ask for this to be written into the contract.

Does remote AMC include hardware repair?

No. It includes diagnosis, so you know exactly which part failed, but physical repair needs someone on-site.