Last week, my new sales manager came back from Bhopal looking a bit defeated, wearing that “we lost one” expression. He said, “Sir, the prospect we were negotiating is favouring another vendor. Whose only USP is ‘We don’t charge AMC.’ It is a biggish deal, 80 plus machines. Should we waive AMC too and swing the order our way?”

I smiled and asked, “Have you heard the line, Nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM.?” He looked blankly at me. It is a corporate saying, not IBMs official marketing line. Back in the day, choosing IBM meant going with a company you could trust, one that delivered reliability and stood by you if things went wrong. It was the safest bet. But today, that line is often used as a warning, reminding us that many people make decisions just to protect themselves and their backsides, not to create value. They choose the cheapest, not the best.

I cautioned him, we never chase orders as trophies to hang on the wall. We want paying customers who value what they are buying, not just big logos to show off.

Here is the truth. In software product business, “AMC is not a tax, it is oxygen”.

Software is dead the day you buy it, unless it is backed by AMC support from the vendor. Only the original developer has the source code to fix issues or enhance performance. A machine can be repaired by any skilled technician. Software cannot. AMC pays for regular updates, cybersecurity, new features, improvements driven by user feedback, server maintenance, and most importantly, continuity of service. If a vendor says, we do not charge AMC, the real question is how, and for how long, will they sustain support and keep improving year after year.

Remember EVERNOTE, once one of the most loved productivity apps. Their freemium model worked for a while, but the lack of steady maintenance revenue nearly killed the product before it was sold. Software companies that skip recurring revenue do not survive long.

A ‘No AMC’ or ultra-low cost solution looks smart today, until it fails tomorrow. Servers crash, data disappears, operators stop using it, and the free system suddenly becomes very expensive. The sweet taste of ‘No AMC’ soon fades, but the bitterness of poor service lingers long after.

We pulled up a list of our customers from the last three years, those who chose low-cost systems, No AMC systems, PWYW (pay-when-you-want) types, free systems from machine tool OEM bundles. Eighteen names. Thirteen came back to us after a year or so. Their message was clear. We need a system that works, simple, stable, dependable, not necessarily the cheapest.

That is why smart manufacturers who are serious of productivity stay with Leanworx, the choice that lasts. AMC protects them, and I can twist the corporate line to: Nobody ever got fired for choosing Leanworx.