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Is your business ready for cloud print management?

Many businesses are starting to explore cloud printing solutions. But while the technology is certainly ready, how do you know if your business is ready for cloud print management? That’s the big question.

Cloud printing comes with a bunch of benefits – from streamlined maintenance and IT to cost savings and flexibility – but some businesses aren’t quite ready to make that jump into the cloud. And that’s okay. Tech adoption comes in stages, and whether you’re a small business, a sole trader, or a large company, there’s a print management solution out there for you. The purpose of this article is figuring out what that solution might be.

4 signs you’re ready for cloud print management

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re already in the public cloud

More specifically, you’re already using the public cloud for most of your organization’s work.

This is becoming increasingly common. Funnily enough, most SMB workplaces don’t start up with server racks for their data storage. They don’t need to anymore. They simply outsource to Google Drive or Dropbox. It’s the same with cloud printing solutions, like PaperCut: instead of investing in on-site print servers, which chew up overhead budgets and maintenance time, you can shift the bulk of your print infrastructure to the cloud. That’s the essence of cloud print.

If this sounds like your workplace, it could make sense to start looking at cloud print management solutions. No point in having a dedicated print server if all the rest of your work lives on cloud-based software.

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re new to print management   

Here’s the scenario: for years you’ve had one MFP, or a couple of small A4 printers, used by a handful of employees. You know who’s coming and going, you know who’s printing what, you’re not printing anything more confidential than regular office documents. So, you’ve never felt the need for print tracking and monitoring. Especially when considering it means you have to shell out more cash for a print server and ongoing IT maintenance.

But if you’re looking to grow the business, and you’re finding yourself handling more large-scale print jobs, it’s definitely time to look into some cloud print management software, like PaperCut. With cloud print management, you’re not actually purchasing any additional equipment – it removes print servers from the whole equation. That means no ongoing maintenance costs and no technical knowledge required, just an all-inclusive cloud print management SaaS model.

Once upon a time, there was a barrier to print management for businesses that couldn’t justify the spend on infrastructure. With cloud print management solutions, that’s no longer the case.

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re embracing hybrid work

In the post-COVID world, you can be one of two businesses: the one that embraces hybrid and remote work, and the one that struggles against it. One of these businesses will attract top talent, and the other won’t.

With hybrid work becoming more and more the de facto expectation, you must embrace the benefits (happier, healthier employees), and work around the challenges (coordination, community, and teamwork). Cloud printing is a crucial element here.

With cloud print management and the right print management software, end-users can juggle between printing at home or the office. At the same time, sysadmins and IT staff can quickly manage print flexibility, user authentication, driver updates and more. If you’re planning any sort of hybrid office, cloud printing must be a factor.

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re an early tech adopter

Print management in the public cloud isn’t new, but it’s still a maturing technology. It’ll take a bit of time before cloud-native solutions reach the same feature-set and embedded functionality as on-prem and private-hosted print management solutions.

But for those futurists out there who love getting their hands on new tech, cloud-native print management is your moment. Remember how smug your Gen Z co-worker was when they were early on the TikTok hype train? That could be you!

For technological trendsetters and trend followers, cloud adoption is all the rage right now. It also gives you a leg-up on the competition, especially when it comes to attracting future-focussed talent.

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re security conscious

On the surface, it might sound like a private print server will always be more secure than printing via the public cloud. But that’s not really the case. Cloud printing is as secure – if not more secure – than many traditional print systems. This is incredibly important if you work in a sensitive field, like medicine, law, or finance, where printed documents must comply with data-privacy legislation.

Cloud printing solutions like Mobility Print work through the well-established WebRTC protocol: the same peer-to-peer communication tech that keeps your Zoom calls secure. WebRTC provides an encrypted connection from the user’s device to the Mobility Print server. No-one on the internet – not even the print management provider, like PaperCut – can intercept this metadata. Cloud printing can also leverage user authentication (both on the device, and at the MFD), end-to-end encryption, and even biometric identification, to keep your print jobs secure. Check out our comprehensive GDPR data protection guide for more information.

Cloud print management could be for you if: you’re looking to scale

For businesses looking to scale their operations, expand geographically, or deal with fluctuating print volumes, cloud print is really the only solution that makes sense. ‘Public cloud’ SaaS software, like PaperCut Hive or PaperCut Pocket , will allow you to onboard staff all over the world, and enable high-volume remote printing via the internet.

More importantly, it will give sysadmins and IT managers granular, centralized control over the entire print ecosystem. They’ll be able to add users and restrict print permissions, change protocols and settings on the fly, update relevant print drivers, and track and audit your entire print flow. This is the real benefit of a fully integrated print management solution – it lets you see, and quickly adjust, who’s printing, what they can print, and where they can print from.

Want to learn more about cloud printing with PaperCut ? We can recommend a cloud print solution that’s right for your business. Just give our friendly team a call .

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