IT AMC pricing — UAE
What an IT AMC actually costs in the UAE.
Most providers will not put a number on this until they have your details. Here are indicative annual bands, what moves the price up or down, and what sits inside the contract versus what gets billed on top — so you can budget before you talk to anyone, including us.
Indicative annual cost
Roughly what an annual maintenance contract runs to.
Per year, for the whole contract. These are planning ranges built from our published per-user rates — they are here so you can budget, and they are not a quote.
| Team size | Indicative annual AMC | Typically |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 users | AED 13,000 – 36,000 | Small office. Usually essential cover with security added. |
| 11 – 25 users | AED 33,000 – 90,000 | The most common SME shape in the UAE. |
| 26 – 50 users | AED 66,000 – 180,000 | Usually multi-department, often more than one site. |
| 51 – 100 users | AED 132,000 – 360,000 | Server estate, structured escalation, formal reporting. |
| 100+ users | From AED 264,000 | Priced on the environment, not on headcount alone. |
Ranges span basic cover through to security-led enterprise cover, and assume a Sunday–Thursday UAE working week. They are derived from our published per-user managed IT rates over twelve months — see the monthly breakdown or build your own estimate. Your exact price depends on your environment, and we will show you the working.
What moves the number
Six things that decide where in the band you land.
If a provider quotes you without asking about these, they are guessing — and the difference will appear later as items billed on top.
How much security sits inside the contract
Managed detection and response, email security and firewall management move the number more than headcount does. An AMC without them is cheaper and worth less.
Servers, and whether they are yours or hosted
A physical server estate carries patching, monitoring, backup verification and hardware risk that a cloud-only environment does not.
How many sites, and how far apart
Onsite attendance is the cost most providers quietly exclude. Multiple emirates means travel time in every visit.
Backup, and whether restores are actually tested
Holding backups is cheap. Proving a restore works, on a schedule, is the part that costs — and the part that matters at 2am.
The hours you need covered
Sunday–Thursday business hours prices very differently from extended cover for an operation that runs weekends or nights.
The state of what you already have
An estate that has been neglected costs more in year one. We would rather tell you that during the review than discover it after signing.
What is inside the contract, and what is billed on top
The gap between these two lists is where most AMC disputes come from. Ask any provider to write both of them down before you sign.
Inside the contract
- Helpdesk for users and devices — access, applications, laptops, printers, day-to-day problems
- Senior escalation for Microsoft 365, server, network, firewall, backup and security issues
- Onsite attendance for what cannot be fixed remotely
- Proactive maintenance and patching that runs on a schedule, not on a complaint
- Monitoring, with alerts actioned before a user notices
- Monthly reporting on tickets, recurring issues and service health
Quoted separately
- Hardware, software and licences — supplied at cost plus a stated margin, never bundled invisibly
- Project work: migrations, office moves, new site builds, infrastructure replacement
- Cabling, CCTV and physical installation
- Recovery from an incident that predates the contract
Questions buyers actually ask
How much does an IT AMC cost in the UAE?
As an indicative guide, an annual maintenance contract runs from around AED 13,000 a year for a small office up to AED 360,000 or more for an organisation of 100 users with a server estate and security cover. Most UAE SMEs of 11–25 people sit between AED 33,000 and AED 90,000 a year. These are planning ranges to help you budget, not a quote — the price depends on your environment, your sites and how much security sits inside the contract.
Is an AMC charged per user or per device?
Both models are used in this market and both are defensible. Per user is usually fairer for an office where people have a laptop and a phone. Per device suits an environment with shared machines, kiosks or production terminals where headcount understates the estate. We will price whichever reflects your operation more honestly, and show you the working either way.
What is not included in an IT AMC?
Hardware, software and licences are supplied at cost plus a stated margin rather than hidden inside the contract. Project work — migrations, office moves, new site builds, infrastructure replacement — is quoted separately, as is cabling and CCTV installation. Anything billed on top of your AMC should be something you agreed to in advance, and it should be on the invoice by name.
Is an AMC cheaper than hiring an in-house IT person?
For most UAE businesses under about 50 users, yes — and the comparison is not only salary. One in-house person is a single point of failure: they take leave, they resign, and they can only hold so many specialisms. An AMC gives you a helpdesk, senior escalation, security and onsite attendance for less than a mid-level salary. Above roughly 50 users the honest answer is often a hybrid, with your own person handling the floor and us behind them.
What happens if we are unhappy?
Ask any provider — including us — to put the response model and the escalation path in the agreement itself rather than in the proposal. If a provider will not write down what happens when something goes wrong, that is the answer to your question.
Want a real number for your environment?
Tell us roughly how many people you have and how many sites. We will come back with an actual figure rather than a range — and if an AMC is the wrong shape for you, we will say so.
Budgeting for next year's IT contract?
The free Missan IT health check (AED 1,800 value) gives you a written view of your environment, what it should cost to support properly, and what to fix first — whoever you end up signing with.