5 Differences Between Traditional Print Management & PrintOps

Learn about 5 key differences between traditional print management and PrintOps, an emerging suite of tools to help manage enterprise print intelligently in the cloud

According to IDC survey data, nearly 2 in 3 companies report that print is either important or very important to their business, yet print has rarely been included in organizations’ IT modernization efforts and cloud migration strategies. (IDC’s U.S. Print and Cloud Security, August 2023).

That is, until now.

Today, 49% of companies are looking to move their print and print infrastructure to the cloud, placing print on the brink of a seismic shift in a technology that has remained relatively static for decades. (IDC’s U.S. Print and Cloud Security, August 2023)

That shift has been expedited by the emergence of cloud PrintOps, marking a sea change in print management that will define enterprise printing for years to come. To learn what it means for companies, here we examine five essential differences between traditional print management and PrintOps.

1. PrintOps Shifts the Focus from Devices to Users

Historically, print management has focused on printers rather than users, as the entire conversation around print was driven by device vendors. Number of printers, device utilization, user to device ratios—these metrics have a place, but they’re only a small part of what PrintOps represents. What’s more, the emphasis on devices ignores the needs of a key group: the end users.

PrintOps marks a distinct departure from this approach by adding new capabilities focused on end-user experience. These include:

• A universal printer driver built on the IPP Everywhere standard that supports any device type, eliminating the need to add and update vendor-specific drivers in 99% of cases and simplifying multivendor fleet management
• Location-based printing that automatically adds and removes print queues based on user location and permissions
• Supporting the remote and mobile workforce by enabling users to submit print jobs from their workstations, laptops or mobile devices from any network

In the future, PrintOps platforms may be able to detect and respond to device issues before they ever impact users. For example, printer status alerts may be able to enable proactive maintenance before printers go down. Help desk tickets can be reduced as IT will be automatically notified when printers aren’t working, and disruption minimized by automatically rerouting print jobs to the nearest working printer.

All told, optimizing print will support efforts to improve the digital employee experience (DEX)—a top priority in the age of hybrid work—rather than detracting from it.

2. PrintOps is Agile and Scalable, not Static

Traditional print management is built on the assumption that the print environment is static, with devices and people staying in fixed locations. In reality, today’s hybrid workforce is highly mobile.

How can print adapt to allow for the movement of people and devices within an organization?

The answer is with a PrintOps platform that is agile and location-aware, where users can show up at any location and be ready to print immediately. The system already knows who they are, as well as what groups (i.e. department) they are in and permissions they have.

Built on highly-reliable cloud-native infrastructure, PrintOps platforms are dynamic and scalable, so organizations can:

• Easily add or remove users and printers
• Adapt to fluctuating print demands
• Support changing technology, devices, and policies

3. PrintOps Eliminates Complexity

Print as it stands today is complex and time-consuming, both for IT and end users. Print is often a disruption, whether it’s managing device issues and print queues or dealing with various manufacturers’ drivers.

Other IT challenges with print include:

• Staying on top of print security vulnerabilities and supporting security frameworks such as zero-trust
• Managing multiple vendor-specific print management platforms
• Costly onsite print servers

PrintOps solutions address these challenges by providing a streamlined print experience that just works everywhere, for everyone. As a result, print-related help desk tickets are significantly reduced. Sensitive data is always protected. The driver dance becomes a problem of the past, and IT teams have complete visibility into the entire print environment from a single pane of glass.

4. PrintOps Is Efficient and Optimized

In the context of print management, optimization is typically a one-off exercise that only happens every few years when companies refresh their printer fleets.

With PrintOps, optimization is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Cloud-based PrintOps platforms are continuously updated, and are equipped with powerful analytics that go beyond basic reports with:

• Comprehensive trends and insights to spot outliers, reduce costs and optimize printer utilization
• Modern and intuitive dashboards that instantly visualize key metrics and allow users to drill down to granular, job-level details
• The ability to put print data in the hands of those best positioned to understand and influence user activity

5. PrintOps Breaks Down Information Silos

In an era where IT ecosystems are becoming increasingly connected, print management platforms remain siloed and isolated from other IT systems and workflows.

Vendor-agnostic PrintOps platforms, conversely, are open and connected, and in the future will be able to provide a centralized view of print activity while allowing for integration with other systems such as:

• ERP
• Finance and accounting systems
• IT service management mega platforms like ServiceNow
• Data loss prevention and compliance reporting

At its foundation, PrintOps emphasizes maximizing productivity and improving digital employee experience. Agile, simplified and efficient, PrintOps stands as the answer to the challenges of traditional print management, finally bringing print in line with organizations’ larger digital transformation strategies.

Sources: Josh Orum,Pharos CEO, interview. IDC Survey: U.S. Cloud-Based Print Adoption Trends, 2023.