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.