How Pull Printing and Secure Release Printing Are Different—and Why You Should You Use Them
Printer cybersecurity hacks are on the rise in 2024, with 61% of organizations experiencing print-related data loss within the past year. Forgotten documents in the printer tray, data-in-motion attacks, and printer hacks all pose a very real risk for businesses, with the average data breach costing $4.45 million in 2023.
Despite these risks, most CIOs place print security low on their agenda. Just 27% of SMBs say they’re confident in the security of their print infrastructure, and many businesses struggle to maintain the security of print management software, secure printing in remote work environments, and protect confidential information from being printed.
As print security concerns grow, enterprise organizations are beginning to pay attention. Print management trends show that 79% of organizations plan to increase their print security spending over the next year. Likewise, print security maturity is slowly improving, with the number of print security leaders increasing from 18% to 27% between 2022 and 2023.
To combat data loss in their print environments, businesses are typically turning to pull printing and secure release printing.
At first, these two printer security methods seem pretty similar. That’s because they share a common two-step format. It looks like this:
- The user initiates a print job as usual. However, the printing process is on hold until the next step.
- The user intentionally releases the waiting print job to a specific printer.
The key difference between the two methods lies in that release step. In contrast to pull printing, secure release printing requires some form of user authentication. That commonly involves swiping their badge or entering a PIN code on the printer’s control panel.
What makes PrinterLogic’s secure printing unique?
With PrinterLogic’s serverless print infrastructure, both pull printing and secure release printing follow this general description. But PrinterLogic’s ability to eliminate print servers adds an extra layer of security and convenience.
Instead of holding the pending print job on a server, creating a prime target for a malicious actor, PrinterLogic holds the print job on the user’s workstation. Once released, the print job travels straight to the destination printer. That allows for more secure printing by design.
And the flexibility of PrinterLogic’s serverless printing enables any network printer to become a pull or secure release printer, so you can make legacy machines a part of your secure printing infrastructure.
When should you use pull printing?
From a security standpoint, pull printing is a step up from conventional printing. That alone is reason enough to implement it.
Pull printing is especially handy for remote workers and mobile employees who travel to different offices. Thanks to PrinterLogic’s versatile pull-printing functionality, they can print their documents wherever it’s most convenient. They don’t have to install any printers or drivers at a particular location. That saves them time, and it saves IT hassle.
You can also use pull printing to curb waste and build sustainable printing practices in the workplace. Though many organizations recycle, paper still makes up 26% of total waste in landfills. Paper production is also an enormous strain on the environment, leading to deforestation and massive use of energy and water resources. Since the average worker uses 660 pounds of paper every year, pull printing can do a lot to save trees, energy, and office spending. In fact, one organization that implemented pull printing was able to reduce their print consumables usage by more than 50%.
With pull printing, the release step is intentional, meaning print jobs that users no longer want (or forget about) don’t end up being printed in the first place. Since the average U.S. company spends $120 million on printed paper every year, all that unused paper and toner can add up to big cost savings over time.
When should you use secure release printing?
PrinterLogic’s Secure Release Printing is ideal for employees who deal with highly confidential information, typically at a designated secure printer. This form of secure printing is for organizations that really want to protect sensitive documents—think healthcare, legal, financial or government—while also enjoying the same benefits that pull printing brings.
There are multiple ways that end users can authenticate securely with a PrinterLogic printer:
- Badge/card: Employees can easily swipe their ID card or badge through a printer’s integrated reader or a dedicated external device.
- Embedded control panel: Release takes place once users enter a PIN or login credentials right on the printer’s control panel. PrinterLogic SaaS now has native control panel applications for every major printer brand.
- Browser-based: PrinterLogic features a web-based release portal that enables users to authenticate from almost any device.
- Mobile App: Android and iOS users can view, release, and delete secure print jobs right from their smartphones via the PrinterLogic Mobile App.
Importantly, PrinterLogic doesn’t eliminate print servers and then forces you to install a bunch of new hardware. You can use your current badge/card readers and your existing print infrastructure with these authentication mechanisms.
For proof, look no further than EPIC Management, L.P., a managed services provider for healthcare organizations. They needed to comply with the industry’s strict regulations on protected healthcare information (PHI) but didn’t want to add unnecessary cost and complexity. PrinterLogic’s secure printing fit the bill. Read the case study here.
PrinterLogic SaaS Is a Truly Serverless Printing Solution
Originally published March 17, 2020.
The cloud came with a lot of promises. You’d be able to reduce physical infrastructure, manage everything from one place, and enjoy more flexibility and features. Migration to the cloud would free up IT resources and be more cost-effective.
As most IT professionals know, printing was one thing that proved harder to shift.
You can take your print management software and host it in the cloud, obviously. But some of the old problems don’t go away. You’re still stuck with single points of failure, awkward deployment mechanisms, on-prem servers, limited security, and all the other drawbacks of legacy print management solutions.
That’s why PrinterLogic SaaS is unique.
Our industry-leading serverless printing infrastructure realizes the promise of what cloud computing was meant to be. It lets you fully eliminate print servers from your organization while gaining virtually effortless, totally serverless print management from a single pane of glass. You get centralized management of printers and drivers along with powerful reporting—all without having to rely on scripting or GPOs.
Unlike some “cloud-optimized” print management software, PrinterLogic is a true SaaS offering. It’s not some cloud-hosted shortcut that leaves you stuck with server licensing, configuration, and maintenance. Nor does it force you and your users to tunnel through a VPN.
PrinterLogic SaaS also isn’t a hybrid approach that makes you keep servers onsite. Solutions like that involve too many compromises. When we say PrinterLogic eliminates print servers completely and permanently, we mean it.
All the Features (and More), None of the Infrastructure
Okay, so we know that PrinterLogic’s serverless printing eliminates print servers for good. How does serverless print management with PrinterLogic SaaS stack up against the status quo?
Centralized Management
When you eliminate print servers, you don’t just get rid of physical infrastructure. You eliminate all the licensing, migration, and other headaches that they entail. In its place, you can manage all printing from a single location.
Simple Implementation
It’s easy to configure PrinterLogic SaaS and additional security features. Best of all, there’s no need to reconstruct your current print environment.
Unlimited Scalability
Cloud printing adapts to your needs and seamlessly scales with you as you grow—from a single site to multiple offices, across multiple locations.
Convenient for End Users
All end users, regardless of role, can print where and when they need to—with minimal effort and less helpdesk tickets.
Cost-efficient
With cloud printing, print jobs become more deliberate, and you save by removing infrastructure and consolidating vendors and licenses.
Enhanced Security
Protect yourself from data breaches with secure and safe serverless printing. Confidential data doesn’t remain at rest in the cloud and stays encrypted until it’s behind your firewall.
Hardened Security That’s Easy to Implement and User-Friendly
Considering the overlooked importance of print security, it’s worth highlighting just how secure PrinterLogic SaaS is.
AWS-hosted. PrinterLogic SaaS is AWS-hosted and therefore meets rigorous standards for security and compliance.
Zero-trust Printing
PrinterLogic supports microsegmentation and integrates with native Identity Provider (IdP) integrations to keep your data secure. Features like serverless pull printing and Secure Release Printing are now augmented by simple badge release and offline secure print release in PrinterLogic SaaS.
More Release Options
Along with pull printing and Secure Release, serverless printing offers other release options for serverless secure printing. These include multifactor authentication (MFA) such as CAC/PIV as well as native control panel apps.
IdP integration
Integration with leading cloud-based identity providers (IdPs) such as Okta and Azure AD means users’ credentials are strong and centrally managed with the help of security experts.
Federal Compliance
Ours is the only print management software that’s been certified to meet stringent U.S. government security standards like FIPS 140-2.
Seamless User Adoption
As security isn’t effective unless end users adopt it, we’ve always put a lot of emphasis on usability. PrinterLogic’s serverless pull printing, for example, is super easy for them to make a part of their everyday printing workflow.
Schedule a Risk-Free, Cost-Free Demo
The best way to understand exactly how these benefits play out in the real world is to see our serverless printing infrastructure in action. And the best way to do that is to schedule a demo of PrinterLogic SaaS. It takes just a few seconds to sign up. After that, you can deploy PrinterLogic as a proof of concept in your own environment entirely free of charge for 30 days.
You’ll quickly discover that PrinterLogic is efficient, flexible, secure, scalable and reliable—everything that printing should be, and everything that server-based printing isn’t.
That’s why PrinterLogic SaaS isn’t just print management software in the cloud. It’s better to think of it as what print management looks like on cloud nine.
5 Ways Print Management Can Save Your School Money
Budget cuts, underfunding, and rising costs are constant challenges for America’s public schools. Because the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is growing 13.5% faster than public education budgets, the education funding gap is only worsening.
Certainly, it’s a complex problem with no clear-cut solutions. But there’s one simple way schools can save money and reduce costs: by making the switch to serverless printing. It’s a move that can save public schools thousands of dollars annually, allowing them to reduce waste and put precious funds toward more important causes.
Wondering how it’s possible? Let’s discuss five ways smarter print management helps schools save big.
1. Reduce Costs by Eliminating Print Servers
Print servers are a massive drain on public school budgets. The hardware alone can cost schools $2,000 to $5,000 per server. That cost doesn’t account for the money spent on continuous maintenance nor the time spent on manual updating for fixes and security patches. Print servers are also highly susceptible to security vulnerabilities and the physical theft of sensitive documents. Even worse, they create a single point of failure for printing. If one server crashes, it limits everyone in the school from continuing to print until the issue is resolved.
Serverless printing resolves these pain points by ditching the costly legacy architecture in favor of a streamlined, secure direct IP print environment. Serverless printing reduces the attack surface, keeps data secure, and puts thousands of dollars back into the school’s budget.
2. Leverage Quota Management to Reduce Print Jobs
Traditional print environments make it extremely difficult to control printing costs. The average American uses more than 700 pounds of paper every year, and without print quotas, teachers and administrators are likely to print whatever they want with little oversight.
In contrast, serverless printing allows schools to restrict print usage to a sensible amount. It forces staff to take a more thoughtful approach to printing activities and act more responsibly, rather than sporadically. Print quotas can be assigned by modes, too, so users limit costly activities such as color printing or collated printing. Quota management is simple and intuitive, allowing administrators to create custom settings quickly and easily.
Print quotas save schools money, and they also help schools become more sustainable and eco-friendly — without making huge changes to internal processes.
3. Avoid Security Breaches with Secure Release/Pull Printing
Unmanaged print servers create massive amounts of waste. In fact, 70% of all office waste comes from paper, and up to 30% of all print jobs are never picked up from the printer. Not only is all that waste bad for the environment, it also creates a serious security risk.
Serverless print management eliminates the security issue by utilizing secure release/pull printing. With this added security layer, users send their print job and the job is held in the print queue until the user arrives to authenticate it at the printer. This approach greatly enhances security and increases the confidentiality of sensitive documents. It also reduces print waste and saves schools more money.
4. Minimize the Need for Costly Printing Materials
When public schools implement print features like quota management and secure release printing, staff members are more judicious with their printing. They think twice before they print personal or unnecessary documents, causing the total number of print jobs to shrink significantly.
Since the average organization spends $1,200 annually in print materials per employee, this reduction equates to big savings. Schools that print less can also buy fewer print materials, including costly ink and toner. These cost reductions make a big impact over time, giving schools the freedom to use funds for more important aspects of education.
5. Reduce Help Desk Tickets and Reliance on IT
IT costs can be another major drain on public schools’ budgets. IT support isn’t cheap, and as much as 50% of all help desk tickets are printer-related. Print servers also make it difficult for IT professionals to gain visibility and insight into printing activity, making it tough for them to identify areas for cost reduction.
Serverless printers help mitigate this problem by reducing the number of print jobs. By doing so, there is also a lower need for IT staff. Cloud-based solutions also provide greater visibility and insights that empower IT staff to do their job quickly and efficiently, so schools can spend less on IT support and more on direct education needs.
Switch to Serverless Printing and Save Now
Print servers are a burden on public school budgets, staff members, and IT professionals alike. They’re costly, inefficient, clunky, and lack the oversight needed for schools with limited budgets. So, when schools are seeking simple ways to reduce costs and save money, we always recommend eliminating print servers as the first step.
Modern print management solutions make it easy for schools with limited budgets to increase efficiency, collaboration, visibility, and more. They reduce the number of print jobs and help desk tickets related to printing while also making schools more efficient, sustainable, and secure.
If your school is ready to make the switch to serverless printing, get in touch with Vasion today. We’d love to help you discover many benefits that come with the future of print management.
Serverless Pull Printing: Secure Printing Without a Print Server
Pull printing has emerged as one of the most useful ways for organizations of all sizes to implement a secure printing protocol among their workforce—and for good reason. Sixty-one percent of organizations have experienced data loss due to unsecured printing.
Not surprisingly, though, many organizations balk at the idea of having to deploy even more physical infrastructure to gain one piece of extra functionality. That’s why demand for serverless pull printing has increased.
Before we explore serverless pull printing in more detail, let’s pause briefly to look at what exactly secure pull printing is and why it’s beneficial.
What Is Secure Pull Printing?
Pull printing—sometimes referred to as secure pull printing or Secure Release Printing—turns the act of printing into an intentional two-step process. Broken down, it looks like this:
- The user initiates the print job– This is no different from how computer users have been printing for decades—they simply click “Print,” as usual. The job is then sent to the destination printer, where it’s held in the queue instead of being carried out immediately.
- The user allows the printer to execute the job– Once at the printer, the user engages an authentication mechanism, such as a badge or card reader. That authorizes the printer to start the associated pending job. The user then retrieves the job from the output tray once it’s finished.
It may be perceived that an extra step in the printing process would burden end users. However, adding the “release” step enables users to release print jobs in bulk and maintain document privacy which is sought after in high-confidentiality industries like healthcare, banking, and government.
What Does Secure Pull Printing Help Organizations Achieve?
There are several benefits of secure pull printing that make an immediate impact on your organization.
Strengthened Security
By ensuring that the user is physically present before a job can begin, documents aren’t left sitting in the output tray for anyone to see—or steal. According to a report by the Ponemon Institute, 60% of organizations stated “accessing sensitive data not associated with role or function” as the reason for insider threats. This advantage of secure pull printing should be apparent to anyone in the healthcare or high-tech industries, where confidentiality is at a premium.
Sustainable Printing
Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword anymore. According to Quocirca, 70% of organizations say it is important their print supplier provides a range of sustainable products and services. Secure pull printing addresses eco-friendly initiatives by cutting down on consumable usage and preventing jobs from being abandoned. If a user spots a typo just after clicking “Print,” the previous job can easily be canceled before the final authorization step. In addition, admins can set unreleased print jobs to be deleted from a user’s virtual print queue after 24 hours.
Flexibility
Let’s say you want to print a meeting agenda on a distant conference room printer, but the room is currently in use. With secure pull printing, you can print your job at a different printer without disturbing the current meeting. Simply authenticate and execute the job at the nearest convenient printer.
Cost Reduction
Along with avoiding expensive insider document theft and data threats (which cost around $179K to contain), printing overall becomes a more intentional practice for users, ensuring they don’t print accidental duplicates of the same print job. Not to mention, these secure practices extend your printer life by minimizing accidental, high-volume print jobs.
There is one glaring negative about secure pull printing worth noting: many pull printing solutions require additional hardware, such as a dedicated print server that’s used exclusively to provide secure pull printing functionality. This is far from desirable, particularly in organizations that are trying to reduce infrastructure and costs by migrating to serverless printing.
Add Flexibility and Security to Your Print Environment
PrinterLogic’s next-generation print management solution was designed to provide serverless printing to any organization, and that naturally applies to its powerful but easy-to-implement Secure Release Printing as well. You can deploy it throughout your entire print environment—including those with legacy printers—without the need for any additional infrastructure.
As a matter of fact, PrinterLogic enables you to eliminate print servers across the board to attain truly serverless printing that’s cost-effective, enterprise-ready, and cloud-native—even in VMware, Citrix, and IGEL environments.
You and your users gain flexibility too. Our Secure Release Printing feature gives you the choice of the following four release methods:
Mobile QR-Code Release: Scan a QR code at the printer using your mobile device to release a print job. This eliminates the need for additional infrastructure like badge readers.
Secure Badge Release: Utilize a tethered or network-enabled badge or card reader that integrates with your existing ID system.
Control Panel Application: Leverage PrinterLogic’s embedded control panel app for supported printers.
Web Browser: Release jobs from any device with a browser, such as a PC, mobile phone, or a nearby tablet in kiosk mode.
And in each case, it bears repeating that no print server is needed.
There’s a lot to like about this secure printing feature, but there’s even more to like when it’s serverless, seamless, and intuitive. Book a demo and get a free 30-day trial today.
What Is Pull Printing?
Sprinting to the printer to pick up a confidential document can get anyone’s heart pounding. Sure, it’s great exercise. But have you ever thought, “There has to be a better way to do this?”
There is. And it’s called pull printing.
You may have heard of pull printing before or one of its thousands of other monikers like follow-me printing, secure printing, or tap and print—to name a few.
But what exactly is pull printing? And is it the right fit for you?
Defining Pull Printing
Pull printing is a two-step verification for your print jobs. In the first step, a user initiates the job from a workstation or a mobile device in the same way as they ordinarily would. In the second, that same user permits the destination printer to execute the job.
However, when we place so much emphasis on streamlining the printing process, what’s the point of adding an extra step?
In a word: security.
Pull printing ensures that classified documents, or those not intended for wider circulation, aren’t left sitting next to the printer for anyone to see by making the initiation and the release of the job two deliberate actions. This is especially handy when a user wants to print a job at a printer located on another floor or in a completely different building—say, before a meeting or a presentation.
Reasons to Implement Pull Printing
We just mentioned security as the number one reason to use pull printing. But, the benefits of pull printing stretch far beyond that. Below are a few key reasons to implement pull printing for your organization:
Sustainability
Even the most polished writers make typos, let alone end users. The problem is, once a user clicks Print, it’s impossible to go back in time and redo the print job—and that paper goes straight to the bin. The same applies to accidentally printing duplicates. Pull printing holds print jobs in the queue until users are ready to release them, making it easier to cancel unwanted jobs before they fall into the print tray.
Fewer Helpdesk Calls
When IT is worrying less about printing, that’s a good thing. Equipping your printers with pull printing capabilities allows users to walk to another printer to release their print job when their go-to printer is down. This keeps users productive and doesn’t cause printing to come to a complete stop. Yes, IT will have to address the printer problem eventually, but you won’t get the same call four or five times about the same printer.
Simplicity
Printing should be a mindless process. Pull printing keeps printing simple for end users despite the added step. Gone are the days of running to the printer or panicking that someone will swipe your document. Think of it this way: When the user clicks print, the print job is placed in their back pocket until they are ready to release it. On top of that, users can pick up their print jobs in bulk and choose any pull-printing compatible printer they’d like to release their jobs. It’s simple, it’s efficient, and users hardly notice the extra step.
Cut Costs
Print costs pile up in a variety of ways. But none hurt your bottom line more than paper and ink waste. One study estimates that 30% of print jobs never leave the print tray. That’s 30% that companies could save on consumables by holding print jobs in a queue before releasing them. Electricity consumption also drops because your printers are less active.
Printer Reduction
Every IT team dreams of having fewer printers, and pull printing allows you to minimize your printer fleet by removing individual desktop printers. Instead, end users can utilize shared printers to release their print jobs at their discretion without the risk of their documents being seen by wandering eyes. Removing local printers doesn’t sacrifice security, either. Pull printing helps companies maintain compliance standards and decreases attack surfaces by helping you reduce print infrastructure.
Pull Printing with PrinterLogic
With PrinterLogic’s pull printing functionality, known as Secure Release Printing, users can print and issue the “pull” command to release the print job using one of four secure methods:
Touchless printing (QR code release): Using the QR code reader within the PrinterLogic Print Release App, simply scan the QR code on the printer directly from the default camera on the device. Users can then select the print job they want to release within the app.
Web browser: Any device capable of running a browser—PC, Mac, Chromebook, or any mobile device—can release print jobs securely using PrinterLogic’s web-based app. For example, you can put an iPad or an affordable netbook near an active printer group and use it as a pull printing release station.
Badge/card reader: An external badge reader is placed at the printer, or a device already integrated into the printer itself is used. The reader integrates with your existing badge system to release the pulled print jobs at the authorized printer. It’s also compatible with CAC/PIV card certificates.
Control panel application: With this method, the PrinterLogic app is installed directly onto a supported printer, allowing users to log in and release their print jobs directly from the device’s built-in display. Like QR Code Release, this method doesn’t require additional hardware.
PrinterLogic’s serverless printing solution allows you to leverage Secure Release Printing and implement modern secure print solutions to help drive your business forward and keep your data and documents safe.
Want to try Secure Release Printing for yourself? Request a demo and get a 30-day free trial of PrinterLogic’s Advanced Security features.
Print Management in a Hybrid Environment
Hybrid print environments can take many forms.
For instance, one hybrid environment might comprise a mix of new and legacy printing devices. Another might be a combination of mobile and desktop users. Yet another hybrid environment might piecemeal together printing software or print management services to serve the unique requirements of different user pools. It’s not uncommon for some hybrid environments to include a little bit of all of the above.
But the burning question is: How do you simplify print management in hybrid environments?
We’ll answer that. But first, let’s delve into the difficulties IT teams are facing.
The Problems With Print Management in Hybrid Environments
As workplaces move away from traditional desk-based models and become more varied, hybrid environments are increasingly the rule rather than the exception. That inevitably creates problems for IT, where standardization is typically the most efficient and reliable way to administer the organization’s hardware and software infrastructure.
However, standardizing your print management services can be difficult when your managed print environment is a kaleidoscope of printer makes and models interfacing with different operating systems, client devices, and users.
One of the biggest challenges to pain-free print management is user acceptance. Adopting a uniform printing software solution might be welcomed by the IT staff, but if it means your end users have to compromise functionality or jump through extra hoops, that solution can quickly turn counterproductive. Users who are frustrated or confused (or both) by printing will inevitably call the helpdesk. Instead of proactively handling the organization’s managed print environment, admins and support staff are stuck reacting to printer issues and support tickets.
Creating the Ideal Hybrid-Managed Print Environment
A hybrid-managed print solution should be easy to administer, transparent to the end user, and improve the print workflow—irrespective of front-of-house variables like OS, department, client type, or printer model. Ideally, it should do these four things:
- Allow an organization to streamline infrastructure without sacrificing functionality and security.
- Enable admins to oversee and maintain their managed print environments from a single pane of glass.
- Provide powerful print management services and advanced functionality without resulting in a lumbering Frankenstein of add-ons and third-party software.
- Extend printing capabilities to hybrid employees by offering an easy way to print to network printers instead of relying on vulnerable home office printers (nearly 66% of companies are worried that home office printers pose a risk to their security).
Simply put, the perfect print management solution for today’s hybrid workforce unifies and streamlines the print environment while providing infinite scalability, incredible user-friendliness for admins and end users, and next-generation features like mobile and off-network printing.
The Solution: Serverless Print Management
Serverless print management software allows organizations to eliminate print servers from their managed print environments, removing the need to deploy, operate, maintain, and upgrade remote print infrastructure. At the same time, it integrates seamlessly with any existing printer fleet and many print management services, even in complex Citrix and VMware virtual environments, which allows for quick, smooth initial migrations followed by effortless administration from that point on.
All of this is possible with PrinterLogic.
PrinterLogic’s SaaS print management solution combines next-gen, centralized management with the proven reliability of direct IP printing.
That means:
- Admins escape the hassle of establishing every client–printer connection. And, unlike common alternatives to direct IP, PrinterLogic’s serverless platform eliminates print servers and removes their single points of failure.
- Admins and authorized support staff can deploy printers and drivers according to criteria like Active Directory (AD), IP address range, and MAC addresses—without relying on GPOs or scripts.
- End users can install printers themselves through PrinterLogic’s Self-Service Installation Portal. Instead of choosing from long lists of printers, which increases the risk of incorrect installs, they can identify nearby printers using the optional floor plan maps and install them with just one click. This feature has reduced helpdesk calls by up to 95% for some organizations.
But how does serverless printing benefit IT teams and hybrid employees?
If your environment requires constant mobility and security, PrinterLogic offers various features that enhance the printing experience for hybrid employees, including:
Off-Network Printing: Empower hybrid employees to print to any network printer from the comfort of their home office, a cafe, or a hotel for later pick-up. Your print data doesn’t remain at rest in the cloud and stays encrypted until it is behind your organization’s firewall. This feature removes infrastructure costs like VPNs, hosting services, and external access portals.
Mobile Printing: Enable users with any mobile device, regardless of OS, to print to authorized printers. There’s no client-side software to install, and it works with any new or legacy network printer. Mobile, BYOD, and guest users can print quickly, reliably, and easily to on-location printers no matter where they happen to be.
Secure Release Printing: Boost security with a two-step print-and-release workflow to ensure that end users are physically present to claim their jobs. Release options include CAC/PIV, badge or card readers, web browser, and ID/PIN entry at the control panel. In addition, PrinterLogic’s QR code release method allows for a secure, convenient pull printing release mechanism without investing in any dedicated print release infrastructure.
Get Stress-Free Print Management Free for 30 Days
Despite the nuances and complexities of hybrid environments, PrinterLogic removes the barriers that make it difficult for managed print environments to adapt. While realizing time and cost savings through their ability to eliminate print servers, our print software solutions empower end users, increase organizations’ flexibility, and equip them with a robust print management platform built for enterprises of all sizes.
To see firsthand how PrinterLogic can unify and enhance your hybrid print environment, request a demo for a free 30-day trial 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.
Serverless Printing Infrastructure Advantages
“Serverless printing.”
No, we’re not talking about an off-the-shelf printer connected to a USB cable or a couple of Wi-Fi-connected printers in a tiny office.
Although both of these scenarios are technically serverless, they aren’t built to meet the goals of organizations trying to grow. In an enterprise, where the scale and complexity of the print environment is significantly greater, it’s hard to imagine ditching print servers to manage 50-plus printers.
However, if done right, serverless printing offers advantages that go far beyond just eliminating print servers.
What is serverless printing?
Serverless printing means no longer relying on print server architecture to handle your printing processes and management. Instead of jobs rendering in a print spooler, jobs are sent from the workstation directly to a networked printer. All print management tasks are handled on a centralized platform, print jobs stay local, and any concerns around server security vulnerabilities are removed as well.
Serverless printing is designed to fit the needs of growing organizations and allows IT to adapt to unexpected changes that would derail traditional print infrastructure. It’s also the best solution for companies that are:
- Reducing legacy infrastructure
- Moving to a remote/hybrid workforce
- Experiencing security concerns
- Unifying devices and locations
- Cutting down on consumable usage
- Adopting Zero Trust Network Architecture
These are just a few examples of steps companies are taking to future-proof their business. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how serverless printing solutions allow companies to take all these steps all at once.
Advantages of Serverless Printing
Serverless printing pays immediate dividends from the moment of implementation. IT no longer has to provision, license, or maintain print servers. Contrary to the IT burden servers cause, serverless printing offers the tools IT teams need to effectively “set it and forget it.”
Plus, there are additional advantages of serverless printing that streamline IT print management:
Serverless printing eliminates all your print servers.
Going serverless means eliminating all of your print servers and replacing them with a cloud solution so you can manage company-wide print activity from a central location.
The returns are evident from the get-go.
No more PrintNightmare or single point of failure. Server crashes, spooler hangs, and other downtime vulnerabilities that impact print availability go away. Data-heavy print jobs no longer have to travel across the WAN to and from a datacenter or a consolidated server. Plus, you reduce infrastructure, increasing productivity across your company.
Serverless printing gives your hybrid users mobile printing capabilities.
In this case, mobile printing means printing on-the-go, regardless of location.
End users moving between offices can gain instant access to network printers in your cloud based on their location. Serverless solutions allow admins to either set up automated deployments based on IP address range or empower users to install printers themselves without requiring elevated privileges.
Serverless solutions also offer off-network printing capabilities, enabling users to print to any networked printer from anywhere and keeping jobs encrypted behind your company’s firewall. This functionality discourages users to print from home and keep confidential print data secure—without tapping into costly VPNs.
Serverless printing increases your print security.
Eliminating your print servers already offers a significant security boost; however, the security benefits of serverless printing extend much further than servers. In particular, going serverless prevents document theft and provides automated security updates.
Document theft is a risky business. But it can be done easily by leaving documents unsecured in the print tray. Serverless printing removes that risk by providing secure printing features that enable end users to hold print jobs on their workstations until they authenticate at a designated network printer. Popular authentication methods include badge swipe, control panel application, or mobile app release.
Serverless solutions also roll out automatic updates hundreds of times per day to fill in any existing security gaps in your print environment. This takes the pressure off of admins to apply patches manually just to keep attackers out.
Serverless printing consolidates your print management.
Whether you have one or 100 printers, serverless printing provides a way to centrally manage all of your users and devices on a single platform.
What does this do for admins?
Print-related requests can be addressed quicker. Deployments can be done in just a few clicks—without GPOs and scripts. And you can delete or add printers and users with ease.
This is awesome for IT. But users benefit just as much.
Users get printers faster, printer uptime increases, and they stop calling the helpdesk to add or install printers. Serverless printing solutions are also more device-agnostic than traditional print environments, meaning users can utilize any networked devices to print regardless of operating system or printer manufacturer.
Serverless printing creates eco-friendly habits through cost-efficient printing.
Sustainability and savings go hand-in-hand with serverless printing. This is possible through tracking print jobs and setting print quotas.
Serverless solutions unify your entire print environment, providing insights into print jobs by user, device, and department. This allows you to calculate costs per print job and generate reports to see where your organization could be saving money. You can also manage printer settings in bulk, such as ensuring users are printing with duplex settings and only using color ink when necessary.
To stay within budget and create more intentional printing habits, you can also set print quotas by volume or price. This keeps printing costs down and promotes sustainability throughout your organization.
Learn more about how serverless printing promotes eco-friendly habits here.
Serverless printing drives Zero Trust adoption.
Users in Zero Trust environments are essentially guilty until proven innocent. They’re required to authenticate and are continuously validated before gaining access to necessary applications.
With serverless printing solutions, you can reduce legacy infrastructure, receive constant security updates, and authenticate end users throughout the printing process to prevent data theft. Going serverless makes it easier to adopt Zero Trust, allowing you to:
Minimize Attack Surfaces: Removing legacy infrastructure like print servers minimizes your company’s chances of being breached.
Protect Confidential Data: Keeping print jobs local and implementing secure printing features ensures documents and data stay in the right hands.
Authenticate End Users: Requiring end users to verify their identity before they can print keeps out internal attackers.
Defend Against Attacks: Receiving automated security updates allows you to verify that your devices and data are fully protected.
Support Hybrid Workforces: Allowing hybrid workers to print securely to network printers when they are outside the company network keeps work moving.
Try serverless printing for free.
These advantages highlight just how serverless, centrally managed printing is actually far better suited for today’s enterprise environments than print servers. By implementing serverless printing, Cott, a massive beverage corporation with global reach, was able to eliminate more than 50 remote print servers, dramatically reduce the time and resources the company was devoting to print management and establish a scalable print environment for future growth.
The good news is you can go serverless too.
PrinterLogic is a cloud-native, direct IP print management platform that centralizes your print environment by eliminating your print servers. We offer a complete SaaS platform that streamlines print management and empowers end users to install their own printers, helping to reduce helpdesk calls by up to 95%.
Get your free 30-day trial so you can experience serverless printing for yourself.
The Challenges of Enterprise Secure Printing
Many moving parts define secure printing. But the key component of secure printing requires end users to take an extra step or two before they print, making it an ongoing challenge to implement.
This brings up two questions:
What challenges do IT teams face when implementing secure printing?
and
Does secure printing inconvenience end users?
Let’s answer both.
The biggest challenges of enterprise secure printing
The purpose of secure printing is to keep all printed documents out of the print tray and prevent information theft. It’s a priority for many data-sensitive sectors, however, new workforce trends and legacy devices pose challenges that make it hard to implement.
Challenge #1: End users have to memorize yet another password.
By now, most users know that complex alphanumeric passwords prevent unauthorized access to their devices. Yet many of them choose obvious words or phrases for their password (like “password!”) because they’re easy to remember and enter—making them almost as vulnerable as having no password at all.
It’s difficult asking users not only to remember an extra password but to log into their computer and authenticate via your company identity provider.
Asking them to memorize another password to release a print job—is borderline torture.
Challenge #2: Simplifying secure printing for your mobile users
It wouldn’t be farfetched to assume that most of your users are probably roaming somewhere in your organization. They need to be able to print on the move.
In many cases, they have to call the helpdesk to get a printer installed. This turns secure printing into a four-step process when it should only take two. Here’s what secure printing looks like from the viewpoint of a user:
Call the helpdesk→Wait for the printer to be installed→Send print job to printer→Release print job
Although this does enable them to print securely, it doesn’t streamline the printing process. Secure printing for mobile users should be as easy as “Click print and release.”
Challenge #3: Extending secure printing to off-network users
Unsecured home office printers are considered printing enemy number one for most admins.
Why?
Users can print sensitive documents to a printer on an unsecured network. That data sits on the printer, waiting for hackers to steal it. Plus, print jobs go untracked, leaving admins in the dark about who, when, and where of documents. Organizations usually counter home office printing with expensive VPNs or urge users to connect the printer to the workstation via a USB—both of which require hours of babysitting by admins.
Remote employees and contingent workers who operate off-network need a way to print securely to networked printers in your organization from their home office or other off-site locations. This eliminates risky home office printing and allows users to pick up their jobs when they visit the office.
Challenge #4: Finding 100% printer-compatible solutions
If you have a homogenous printer fleet, good on you.
But this isn’t the case for most organizations that employ a mix of MFDs and legacy printers from different manufacturers.
It’s difficult to find a solution that allows you to utilize any of your printers for secure release and saves you the time and money of buying a whole new fleet. Another worry is deciding which authentication method fits your environment and end users. You may discover that users prefer using badge release to authenticate instead of entering a PIN on the control panel or enjoy scanning a QR code to release their print jobs.
Either way, these are decisions you and your organization have to make. The ideal solution would be a printer-agnostic platform that allows for all authentication methods, but those are few and far between.
Does secure printing cause problems for end users?
No. At least, it shouldn’t.
We discussed a few pain points for secure printing like memorizing more passwords and calling the helpdesk to install printers. However, these can easily be averted by choosing a solution with the right tools.
Even if end users do feel inconvenienced by a small change, the returns are rewarding and worth conveying:
- Users’ environmental impact will decrease with more intentional printing.
- Users can cancel print jobs before they are printed at any time.
- Employee and customer data are protected with every print job.
- Users can release print jobs in bulk instead of making multiple trips to the printer.
You’d be surprised. Users may be happy to learn that their newly developed printing habits are making a difference at the workplace—and not at the cost of productivity.
Make enterprise secure printing an easy addition.
PrinterLogic’s serverless print management solution allows you to centrally manage your print environment from a single user interface.
Our version of secure printing, Secure Release Printing, requires users to authenticate via one of these convenient methods:
Mobile QR Code: Users can scan a QR code on the printer with their mobile device to release held print jobs.
Web browser: Users can utilize any device capable of running a browser—PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, and even mobile devices—to access PrinterLogic’s web-based app and release their print jobs.
A badge/card reader: If your workplace uses a badge system, you can situate a badge reader next to the printer or use your printer’s preinstalled readers. Employees can then release their print jobs on any printer associated with their badge.
Control Panel: Provided the printer is compatible, the dedicated PrinterLogic app can be installed directly on the printer itself. Users can then log in using the printer’s LCD screen and release their print jobs. No additional hardware is required.
For mobile employees traveling between offices, our Self-Service Installation Portal empowers users to install their printers without calling the helpdesk, giving them instant access to printers and increasing productivity.
Secure Release Printing also extends to your remote users, allowing them to print off-network to any networked printer and release them when they get to the office.
All-in-all, PrinterLogic makes enterprise secure printing so easy that end users will have no reservations about using it.
Try secure printing free for 30 days.
Or check out our Secure Release Printing white paper to learn more.