What is Print Workflow Automation?

Today’s enterprises are constantly seeking new ways to increase efficiency, productivity, and security, all while decreasing costs. Though it’s an ambitious goal, it’s also essential for staying ahead in an increasingly competitive and volatile business landscape.

Thankfully, print workflow automation helps organizations streamline complex processes and increase accuracy, even when (and especially when) they’re strapped for time and resources.

By leveraging the latest AI and automation technologies, print workflow automation software makes the entire printing process a breeze. Now, let’s get into the details, including what print workflow automation is and how it benefits enterprise-level organizations.


Print Workflow Automation Explained

Print workflow automation is a web-based, no-code software solution that helps streamline and optimize print production. Also known as print management or outpoint management, it automates tasks, including print job scheduling, routing, delivery, and others. It’s a secure, scalable, print solution that helps businesses save time, reduce errors, and lower printing costs.

Here are some of the key features of print workflow automation.

  • Document automation: eliminates manual processing bottlenecks
  • Advanced reporting: helps identify workflows that need to be expedited or rerouted
  • User task lists: ensure workflows are managed correctly
  • Auditing and reporting: features that enforce compliance and regulatory standards
  • Tracking and notifications: increase transparency and erase silos
  • Native connectors: effortlessly integrate workflows with existing applications

Features like mobile capture, scanning, and eSignatures further enhance print processes and connect departments across the organization. With seamless third-party integrations, print workflow automation is one of the most user-friendly workflow builders on the market.

4 Benefits of Print Workflow Automation

There’s a reason the print management industry is growing rapidly. The market is expected to reach $118.27 billion by 2031, largely fueled by the increased demand to optimize budgets and print processes.

Businesses that invest in print workflow automation enjoy benefits such as streamlined print operations, reduced costs, increased visibility, and enhanced security, to name a few.

1. Streamlined Operations

Most workers say they don’t have enough time to focus during the workday, yet the demand for increased productivity is higher than ever. This is why print automation is so valuable—it saves IT professionals and business leaders and their teams valuable time that is often wasted on inefficient printing.

With print workflow automation software, users can easily export and print data from multiple applications for reporting, storing, version control, and more. A highly visible, unified, native printing experience makes the whole process completely seamless, meaning fewer IT tickets and fewer headaches across the organization. 

2. Reduced Costs

Centralizing print management allows companies to have better control over their printing infrastructure, which helps reduce overall costs by minimizing waste and the need for IT support. Because printing is done efficiently, securely, and cost-effectively, businesses can reduce spending on printers, printing supplies, and costly print servers.

3. Increased Visibility

Nearly one-third of all business leaders are looking to AI to help increase employee productivity without increasing headcount. They want to use it to save time, help teams work smarter, and eliminate busy work. 

Here’s the good news: AI is up for the challenge. Print workflow automation allows businesses to scale using insights only available with the help of AI. Rather than relying on siloed, disparate systems, it offers businesses unparalleled visibility for generating, storing, and sending documents. With print management, organizations get the data needed to pivot, grow, and make a measurable impact.

4. Enhanced Security

Over 40% of organizations have had an IT security breach in the last 12 months, and security breaches have increased for 70% of U.S. businesses in 2024. This dramatic rise in cybersecurity threats is causing enterprises to rethink their print processes, with 79% increasing their print security spending.

Print workflow automation software aids businesses in addressing these concerns, helping to increase security and meet ever-evolving compliance and regulatory requirements. Secure printing options like pull printing and user authentication help protect sensitive documents and prevent unauthorized access. Unsurprisingly, organizations that invest in print management services are considered print security leaders.

 

Empower Your Business with Print Workflow Automation

Print management solutions empower enterprises to overcome the many challenges that come with outdated printing processes, such as costly equipment, disparate systems, complex security needs, and limited resources.

By streamlining document workflows, businesses can transform their print environment from a cumbersome burden to a powerful tool for efficiency, productivity, and ongoing success.

Ready to optimize your printing and reduce costs? Book a demo today to learn more about PrinterLogic, a powerful workflow management solution that eliminates information silos and connects your entire organization.

How to Optimize ROI and Operational Efficiency in Healthcare

Did you know that 20-40% of health system spending globally is wasted through inefficiency? In an industry as vital as healthcare, that waste has a direct impact on people’s lives. Luckily, most spending waste in healthcare could be easily solved with minor changes. One of the easiest changes is to implement an output automation solution. If you’re a healthcare organization aiming to optimize your ROI and maximize operational efficiency, here are five efficiencies your org can gain by implementing output automation. 

  

What Is Output Automation? 

First, let’s define output automation. Output automation is the practice of ensuring any output from any system is delivered to the correct destination at the right time and in the preferred format. Not to be confused with Output automation, Output management focuses mainly on the creation, sharing, printing, downloading, and storage of documents. 

An output automation platform can help your company with:

  • Managing workflows for both printed and digital documents
  • Providing visibility into printing habits and document delivery patterns
  • Capturing data from various sources (including CRMs, ERPs, and emails) and tracking how they’re delivered
  • Formatting and storing documents and data so they’re safe, accessible to the right people, and easily searchable

 

1. Eliminate Downtime

Downtime can be dangerous within healthcare organizations—for patients’ well-being and your business. When your printer environment stalls, physicians can’t send in medication orders, consent forms can’t be printed, health insurance companies can’t access necessary information, and care is delayed. 

Outdated printer systems often have a single point of failure. If one piece of hardware stops working or the system crashes, it halts internal and external processes. However, output automation software ensures that anyone can print the necessary documents whenever they’re needed. You can set up automatic redundancies, allowing you to print even when one system fails. Vasion’s PrinterLogic Output Automation solution establishes direct links between clients and printers so you can print even if there’s a server failure or a WAN outage. 

 

2. Strengthen Compliance and Security

Compliance and security measures are integral to protecting sensitive information in healthcare. Organizations in the field are required to safeguard data for multiple regulations, such as HIPPA and GDPR, at all times. Output automation helps manage and prevent access to private, sensitive patient health information (PHI), which aids in upholding compliance regulations. 

Output automation software provides a detailed audit trail of who prints and accesses what information. Admins can set up special rules to prevent the printing of certain types of information to help protect PHI. With output automation, you can also redact print jobs in real-time, protecting sensitive data from exposure and avoiding the improper disposal of paper that may include PHI. 

 

3. Cut Printing Costs

Healthcare organizations shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality of care for lower costs. Companies can save money while increasing the quality of patient care by using output automation software. There’s no need to keep dumping money into unreliable, expensive legacy printers that constantly need to be fixed. With output automation software, you can: 

  • Eliminate unreliable front-end print servers 
  • Streamline driver and printer deployments to cut unnecessary hardware
  • Keep all print jobs on your local network
  • Drive automation and content management across the enterprise for all printed, scanned, emailed, and faxed documents  

Output automation software also allows you to track print jobs, set print limits, and easily share digital documents, all of which help lower printing costs.

 

 

4. Simplify Integrations

Healthcare companies often juggle dozens of software platforms, including identity providers (IdP), electronic medical record (EMR) systems, electronic health record (EHR) systems, etc. Output automation systems are designed to integrate easily with other platforms so organization’s don’t have to pick and choose between options. Vasion’s PrinterLogic Output Automation integrates seamlessly with Epic, Nutanix, Citrix, Azure Virtual Desktop, VMware, IGEL OS, and more to keep all systems connected and running smoothly without interruptions. 

 

5. Relieve IT Teams

Another feature of output automation that helps increase efficiency is self-service printing. This permits healthcare workers who are traveling between locations or buildings to print without having to submit a ticket and involve helpdesk workers. This allows not only your IT team to reallocate time previously spent on helpdesk tickets, but permits all employees from your organization to focus on more pressing matters and not printing. 

 

Increase ROI and Efficiency with Output Automation from PrinterLogic

Output Automation from PrinterLogic increases ROI and boosts efficiency by helping you better manage and optimize your print environment.

Output Management and Print Management: What’s the Difference?

If you’re a bit confused about the difference between print management and output management, it’s ok. There’s some overlap in what they do. They even have some of the same benefits. 

However, output management has a broader scope than print management. It encompasses everything print management does, plus much more—making it an ideal choice for companies that are serious about digital transformation, cutting costs, and automating processes for better efficiency. Here’s how the two solutions compare and what you need to know about each. 

  

What Is Print Management?

As its name implies, print management software manages printed pages. With print management software, you can print from phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and other devices across multiple operating systems. 

Managing printed documents starts with security. Print management software often has authentication features to make sure only authorized users submit print jobs. The software keeps print jobs confidential, manages passwords, keeps track of authorization controls, and ensures only the person who submitted the print job can print and retrieve their print job. 

In addition to supporting security, print management increases efficiency. Its ability to track print jobs helps ensure document accountability and enforces better printing behavior. Better printing behavior means a reduction in waste, costs, and wear and tear on printing machinery. 

Lastly, print management software helps ensure compatibility among devices, offers bring-your-own-device printing, streamlines workflows, and tracks and gathers data on printing jobs. 

 

What Is Output Management? 

Output management is a way of creating, distributing, and managing documents. Output management encompasses print management’s print documents, but it includes digital documents and document management, too. Its capabilities expand beyond those of print management software to add formatting, processing, and handling of digital information, version control, and archiving documents. For companies in heavily regulated industries—especially healthcare, finance, and manufacturing—output management software’s security features also help ensure compliance with laws and industry specifications. 

Because output management software deals with print and digital documents, it works with a wider variety of formats than print management software. File types such as Word, Excel, PDF, .sav, .spv, XML, HTML, and raw text are all easy to work with in output management and securely stored in a single centralized database. 

A company can connect applications, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) software, with output management software to export and print data and reports to any office printers. Output management also enables companies to connect processes from legacy applications to manage all aspects of document distribution, printing, and routing from a centralized platform.

The Benefits of  Output Management

Companies that implement output management solutions see benefits such as:

  • Increased automation and streamlined workflows for heightened productivity and efficiency
  • Faster and more accurate delivery of documents
  • More data, insights into printing behaviors, and tracking abilities across many channels and formats
  • Increased organization and retrievability of stored documents
  • Real-time notifications to speed up project completion and communication, breaking down function silos and bridging the gap between disparate systems
  • Reduced errors and security breaches
  • Compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, GMP, etc.
  • More flexibility, because, unlike print management solutions that require a standardized format, output management systems can handle more formats for faster, easier printing 

Because of its ability to handle multiple types of documents and automate a greater number of processes, output management will benefit your organization more overall when compared to a print management solution. Output management platforms incorporate more processes, assets, and devices, meaning you get better visibility and fewer interruptions as they’re all managed in the same place. Even more, your company will save money because many of your necessary processes are streamlined and automated. 

 

Drive Your Business Processes Forward with PrinterLogic Output Management

For companies investing in digital transformation or simply wanting to cut back on costs to invest in data security, PrinterLogic’s Output Management solution is exactly what you’re looking for. Our centralized, easy-to-use platform is here to unify your print and document management systems. You’ll benefit from our unique Admin Console that allows you to manage both front- and back-end printing from a single place, and your IT team will thank you for the decreased number of manual interventions needed.

To see how PrinterLogic’s Output Management solution can drive your business processes forward, book a free demo today.

How to Adopt Zero Trust Printing

If someone were to tell you you should be scared of your printers, you’d likely laugh in their face. While clunky, they aren’t exactly an intimidating adversary. What everyone doesn’t know is that printers pose a huge, costly threat to your organization.

Printers connected to your corporate network are a wide attack vector for hackers. Along with being an entryway into your business’s network, hackers are able to attack other applications and launch ransomware through a compromised printer, wreaking havoc on your organization. 

According to this print security report by Quocirca, over two-thirds (68%) of organizations have experienced data losses due to unsecured printing practices in the past 12 months, leading to an average of $770,000 per data breach.

Since the need for printers remains high in the workplace, companies must pivot from traditional security measures towards Zero Trust printing in order to protect company data. 

 

Understanding Zero Trust

Before jumping off the deep end, it’s important to understand the basics. A Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) is a completely new approach to traditional network models. The structure as a whole is based on one principle: Never trust, always verify.

Traditional Network: This model inherently trusts anyone inside their network’s perimeter and is protected through a single verification point (typically a basic password based on an employee’s pet). 

Zero Trust Network: A security model in which no device is trusted by default, and users must be continually authenticated, authorized, and validated before being allowed access to applications and data, whether they are inside or outside the organization’s network.

Traditional networks are no longer safe because once any endpoint inside the network is compromised, attackers can move laterally and gain access to anything else on that network. Within a  Zero Trust network, access is limited, which is one of the most critical pieces of an effective Zero Trust strategy since most cyberattacks are internal and, more often than not, accidental.

 

Strengthening Your Network Security

Remote work is here to stay. While employees enjoy the conveniences of not commuting to an office, IT departments are flailing to put in place the robust back-end infrastructures needed to protect organizations’ data amid the transition. 

As employees use their own home printers for company printing, this poses two potential attack surfaces for hackers:

  1. An unsecured machine connected to a company computer. Connecting a company computer to an unsecured home printer provides a gateway past any VPN or security. Once a hacker moves from the printer to the company drive, they can gain access to the company’s primary network.

  2. Information is stored on the printer’s hard drive. Printer hard drives store previously queued print jobs for a varying degree of time. Hackers are able to break into these hard drives using a back door to view sensitive company information by accessing the employee’s home Wi-Fi.

Organization’s using a traditional network model don’t stand a chance against these threats. However, shifting to a Zero Trust approach means avoiding these types of vulnerabilities altogether by eliminating outdated infrastructure, like print servers, and going serverless. This reduces attack surfaces, strengthens security for remote workers, provides threat detection and prevention, and allows companies more visibility into print activity overall. 

 

Investing in Print Security 

Now that you understand the time to transition to a Zero Trust printing architecture is now, it’s important to select the right print management solution for your organization. The best possible solution will check these four critical boxes:

✔ Access and identity management

✔ Authentication for all connections and endpoints

✔ Segmentation of data to limit harm from breaches

✔ Simple, secure management features

PrinterLogic inherently checks off every box and possesses the necessary tools for your Zero Trust Printing environment. You can finally address your organization’s needs with a scalable solution that offers round-the-clock network protection and unlocks the true potential of your document and print management processes. 

 


Ready to see what Zero Trust Printing from PrinterLogic can do for you? Schedule a demo today. 

How Does Pull Printing Support Your Organizations in 2023?

In today’s fast-paced digital era, businesses are searching for ways to secure their data and documents without disrupting printing processes. One feature that has gained mainstream prominence is pull printing. Also known as follow-me printing or secure printing, pull printing transforms traditional printing workflows by introducing a user-friendly approach to authentication and keeping confidential documents in the right hands. 

In this blog post, we will delve into the concept of pull printing and uncover three ways pull printing supports businesses in 2023. 

 

What is pull printing?

At its core, pull printing is a print management strategy that allows users to securely release and retrieve their print jobs from any network-connected printer within an organization. Unlike the traditional “push” method, where print jobs are sent directly to a specific printer, pull printing employs a virtual queue system. Users send their documents to the virtual queue and can then authenticate themselves at any pull printing-enabled printer to release and print their files.

Pull printing has become so widely adopted that its capabilities have extended to remote employees that need to print off-network. Click here to learn more about pull printing for off-network and remote employees. 

 

How does pull printing streamline printing processes?

One of the key advantages of pull printing is its ability to streamline printing workflows, optimizing efficiency and productivity—while adding an extra layer of security. With the traditional approach, employees often face long queues at specific printers, leading to delays and frustration. To top it all off, users can retrieve all of their queued print jobs at the printer in bulk, instead of making a trip to the printer for every print job. 

Pull printing offers a device-agnostic approach to printing as well. Users can send print jobs from their computers, laptops, or mobile devices to a virtual queue (instead of spooling on a print server), allowing them to print on demand at their convenience. This flexibility saves time and improves productivity, as employees can retrieve their documents from any nearby printer without having to wait in line or walk to a specific location. 

Moreover, if a printer is out of order or busy, users can easily redirect their print jobs to an available device or simply walk to another pull printing-enabled printer to release their print jobs, further enhancing efficiency.

 

How does pull printing optimize security?

In addition to streamlining workflows, pull printing significantly enhances document security. In traditional print environments, sensitive documents may be left unattended in shared output trays, increasing the risk of accidental (or intentional) document theft. Even if documents aren’t stolen, the last thing you want is for employees to see sensitive information like how much money Tom in sales is raking in or a list of expected layoffs following a merger. 

Pull printing addresses this concern by requiring user authentication at the printer before releasing the print job, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access and retrieve the printed materials, mitigating the risk of data and confidentiality breaches.

Industries dealing with sensitive information, such as healthcare, finance, and legal services, greatly benefit from pull printing’s heightened security measures. Confidential patient records, financial statements, legal documents, and other sensitive materials remain protected until the intended recipient is physically present at the printer and authenticates their identity.

 

How does pull printing address sustainability initiatives?

Pull printing offers instant financial and environmental benefits to organizations by minimizing print waste and associated costs. Instead of automatically printing every document, print jobs remain in the virtual queue until the user releases them at the printer. This allows users to review their documents, make corrections, or delete unnecessary pages before printing. 

The reduction in print waste not only saves money on paper and ink but also contributes to a more sustainable environment. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Sustainability Report, 54% of organizations use climate-friendly solutions to achieve their sustainability goals. 

And this push for sustainability isn’t only to preserve the environment, either. It’s to lure in eco-conscious consumers. 

Research shows that consumers have become more selective in the brands they choose. A separate Deloitte study shows that consumers prefer companies actively reducing their carbon footprint and committing to ethical working practices—both of which pull printing can help cover.  

 

So, is pull printing a must-have feature?

If your organization is adopting additional security measures and viewing sustainability as a key player in your future business success—then, yes. Even if you’re only looking to cut print costs, implementing pull printing pays quick dividends. 

As businesses strive for increased efficiency, productivity, and security, pull printing emerges as a valuable tool. Its user-centric approach and enhanced document security make it an ideal choice for organizations of all sizes and industries. By implementing pull printing, businesses can optimize their printing processes, cut costs, and strengthen their overall security posture, setting the stage for success in 2023 and beyond.

At PrinterLogic, we offer a free 30-day trial so you can see if pull printing is a good fit for your current environment. Schedule a demo today