Cloud printing, at its core, lets users send print jobs from any device—like a laptop, mobile phone, or tablet—to a printer over the internet, which means saying goodbye to the hassle of being tethered to a specific network. So whether you’re at home, or on-the-go, cloud printing enables you to print seamlessly and collect when you arrive at the office.
It’s especially helpful for schools, businesses, and organizations that need to cover multiple locations or their mobile users. By moving print management to the Cloud, you get easier setup, centralized control, and the ability to print securely from anywhere.
How does it work?
Cloud printing allows users to upload their print jobs to a pull-print cloud queue, where they are securely transmitted (encrypted in transport*) to a designated storage region in the cloud. The print job remains temporarily stored in an encrypted state (encrypted at rest*) until the user chooses to print it from a device. When the user initiates printing, the job is securely delivered (encrypted in transport*) to the print device via the cloud. Users also have the option to either retain the job for future use or delete it upon successful printing.
What are the benefits of Cloud Printing?
There are several benefits of choosing to print through the Cloud:
Zero Trust Infrastructure – Many organizations now run a Zero Trust architecture that ensures security and flexibility. Enable guests to print via the cloud to printers behind a secure network, and allow workers to utilize a bring your own device (BYOD) policy while ensuring print remains part of your security checklist.
Save on print costs – No need for expensive server and maintenance costs as the traditional IT infrastructure isn’t a requirement for Cloud printing to work. Having the ability to implement policies like print quotas and duplex printing will reduce both paper and toner consumption.
Simplified Maintenance – As Cloud Printing utilizes centralised management of printers, there is no need for on-site support. And with updates and installations managed through the Cloud, this will reduce downtime and allow admins to focus on other tasks.
Shore up security – Hold your print jobs in a secure queue and only release them when the user is present, making sure only authorized users are able to access confidential information. If you work in a school or an office setting, data privacy regulations can be met, protecting documents for students or staff.
So do I need it?
Now you have a better understanding of what cloud printing is, how it works and the benefits, the last step is to decide if this is something you want to invest in for your organization.
Assess current printing needs – it makes sense to consider the scope of the printing infrastructure you may feel that you need in your organization. Analysing print volume, locations that need covering and number of devices will give you a clearer view of whether setting up through the cloud will be more beneficial.
Evaluate cost efficiency – it’s a simple bit of math; working out the current cost of maintaining print servers, IT support and maintenance and what are the total savings potential from switching to the Cloud – not just monetary either, as there is potential to simplify workload and minimize unnecessary prints too.
directprint.io RED
directprint.io RED supports cloud based printing for SHARP MFPs. This means users can print directly from their mobile devices or laptops to the cloud and collect the print jobs at the sharp copiers. Find out more about directprint.io RED here.
Introducing Edge Printing by directprint.io
What about cloud printing for legacy print divers? Edge Print allows IT admins to cloud-enable legacy print devices, allowing end-users to securely print when they are not on the same network as the printer. With Edge Print, users can print from their Windows PC, Chromebook, or Mac device – whether they’re at home, on a guest network, or even between different office locations.
Printers remain on a secure network and are not exposed to vulnerabilities. Our secure, compliant, localized Cloud deployment options ensure that your business information remains confidential.
Get started today with a 30 day FREE trial of directprint.io to see if you can print smarter, save time and reduce printing costs for your organization. All our great features are included and all setup support is provided free of charge.
Useful terms
Encrypted in transport – refers to data being encrypted while it is being transmitted from one system to another over a network.
Encrypted at rest – refers to data being encrypted while it is stored on a disk, database, or other storage medium. This ensures that if someone gains unauthorized access to the storage (such as through hacking), they cannot read the data without the decryption key.