Method and system for carrying out maintenance or service operations on machines

A method for carrying out maintenance or service operations on machines, includes transmitting data for a maintenance or service requirement by the computer of the machine over a publicly accessible communications network to a management computer. The management computer checks the status of the machine through the computer of the machine for permissible authorizations. The corresponding service or maintenance operations are carried out on the basis of the authorization of the machine detected by the management computer. The service or maintenance requirement can also be reported by the computer of the machine over the publicly accessible communications network to the management computer, and the management computer can create a checklist for processing the required service and maintenance measures, on the basis of at least one error message received, and can transmit it to the computer of the machine. A system is also provided for carrying out the method.