“Printers are the bane of my existence.”
That’s how many IT directors feel. You’ve probably dreamed of a power-up to remove print servers. Yet, there they are, popping up as another opponent every time your organization expands.
The problem is you don’t know where to start, which strategy to employ, or if it’s even possible to take down those pesky print servers.
It’s easier than you think. Five simple steps will level up your print management game!
- Acknowledge servers as the problem.
- Justify the value of going serverless.
- Find a solution that checks all your boxes.
- Get company executives on board.
- 5.Start a free 30-day trial.
1
Acknowledge print servers are the problem.
Identifying the problem is critical to solving it. Without giving it a second thought, it’s easy to designate printers as the culprit of your print management woes. They break, they need servicing, ink is expensive, and you’re always the person called upon when end users can’t troubleshoot the issue. But printers are just the downstream problem. It’s your print servers that waste the most valuable time—and it’s past time to get rid of them. Here are a few reasons why:
Single Point of Failure
Printing comes to a complete halt when a server crashes, resulting in a flood of helpdesk tickets to your inbox just to fix it.
Decentralized Management
More print servers does mean more speed, but it also means more wasted time, money, and resources to ensure each location can print.
Security Vulnerabilities
Still spooked by PrintNightmare? Keeping up with patches and management just to keep your data secure is a lot of pressure.
Helpdesk Tickets
Faulty deployments, slow print speeds, and printer installations cause helpdesk calls, which account for up to 50% of IT’s total workload.
These are just scraping the surface of print server drawbacks. By eliminating print servers, you would erase all four of these worries along with them. And you wouldn’t be alone. Companies around the world recognize that print servers are the issue. According to Quocirca, 43% of organizations have already moved to a cloud print management platform, with a further 37% reporting that they have plans to do so in the next two years. Cloud print management is quickly becoming the de facto standard for organizations.
2
Justify the value of going serverless.
You’ve acknowledged print servers as the problem. You don’t want them around anymore. It’s time to dream a little and imagine life without them. Here are a few things to consider to help you piece together why going serverless is an absolute win for you, your team, and your users.
Money
The cost savings for simply reducing legacy infrastructure can positively affect your bottom line. You’ll no longer have to spend on management and licensing for print servers. Plus, you avoid the chances of being victimized by server vulnerabilities which lead to costly data breaches. In 2022, the average cost of a data breach globally was $4.35 million. In the U.S., that number more than doubled to over $9.4 million (IBM). Other financial benefits of going serverless include scaling to meet businesses demands without purchasing additional hardware and increasing printer uptime by eliminating the single point of failure.
$4.45m
Average cost of a data breach (globally) in 2023
$9.48m
Average cost of a data breach (U.S.) in 2023.
Time
The time saved by going serverless is noticeable from the get-go. No more manual security patch installations, complex deployments, and traveling to other office locations just to address printer issues. You’ll also spend less time responding to helpdesk tickets to fix slow network printing or spooler crashes. Additionally, you and your team will be able to scale the business quicker by adding new users and printers to your fleet without having to erect another print server.
Resources
Conserving IT resources and maintaining print servers, especially in distributed environments, requires a great deal of labor. When a new location opens, you’re hiring a whole new IT team to make sure that office can thrive and users can print when they need to. Going serverless means you’re no longer draining resources or moving people around to meet your organization’s printing needs. Instead, you can manage your organization’s many locations from a single software, which helps you save on labor costs and training.
3
Find a solution that checks all your boxes.
Now that you’ve crafted a list of “whys” for going serverless, it’s time to craft a list of requirements in order to find the right solution. For example, do you need a solution that allows you to reduce consumable costs and track print activity? What about better printing for Chromebooks? Are there security features that you need to maintain compliance?
It’s a lot to ponder. But finding a cloud print management solution that addresses the current and future printing needs of your school is a lot easier if it checks the following boxes:
Hybrid-Driven
Your hybrid and remote workers need mobile printing capabilities that allow them to print securely. Many users travel between offices and often need instant access to printers.
Security-Focused
Your users regularly handle personal information that can’t afford to be stolen or lost. You need integrations with your current IdP to authenticate users before they print to adhere to Zero Trust.
Cost-Efficient
You want more insight into company print activity. You’d like to set limits on print volume and require users to verify print jobs at the printer to cut down on consumable cost and usage.
Industry-Specific
You have various business, legal, and regulatory requirements that must be met. You need a solution that integrates with your EMR, VDI, or ERP and all jobs must stay local.
Mixed-OS Compatible
You have a diverse printer fleet, users all use different operating systems, and you want to consolidate your environment so you can manage everything in one place.
Ask these questions to potential vendors to help you find the perfect match:
Are they cloud-native?
You want to go serverless and ensure availability. The answer better be yes.
What security certifications do they have?
You want to go serverless and ensure availability. The answer better be yes.
What do customers say about them?
Ask for collateral and visit G2 to see how they match up against other solutions.
How is their support team?
Don’t support a solution that doesn’t support you. Make sure they’re available around the clock.
Do they offer a free trial?
You deserve to try before you buy. The top solutions offer a full month.
4
Get company executives on board.
After organizing priorities and determining how going serverless benefits your organization, it’s time to put your due diligence to the test by pleading your case to upper management. You’ve established every angle to build a response to naysayers and get executives on your side. Here are a few answers to potential questions to help you close the deal:
Q: Will going serverless decrease employee productivity?
No, not at all. After migrating from servers to cloud print management, users will be able to print with minimal printer downtime and IT can address printing issues much quicker with increased oversight.
Q: Is serverless printing secure?
Yes. Going serverless minimizes attack surfaces and ensures vulnerabilities like PrintNightmare never happen to us again. Plus, all print jobs stay on the local network.
Q: How will eliminating servers save resources?
Eliminating print servers allows a single admin to handle all printer and user requirements from a single console. IT won’t need additional employees to help manage printing and they can spend time tackling other critical initiatives.
Q: Will serverless printing create more helpdesk tickets?
No. In fact, going serverless can reduce print-related helpdesk tickets by up to 95% since users can install printers themselves without calling IT.
66%
of spending on application software will be directed toward cloud technologies in 2025
66%
of organizations are planning to implement cloudbased print management solutions by 2025
66%
attacks have targeted print spooler vulnerabilities since PrintNightmare started
Need extra proof to support your case?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s an entire playbook to help you convince your boss you need serverless printing.
Start a free 30-day trial.
Now that you’ve impressed the executives with your plan to level up and reduce legacy infrastructure by eliminating those print servers, it’s time to experience serverless printing in action—for free! Implementation is as quick as a speed run. You just need to share two hacks:
Your unique requirements: Let us know your biggest needs and concerns so you can defeat your problems like the final boss.
How many printers you have: Whether you’ve got 10 or 1000, we’ll help you manage them all from one platform—no need for a tag team strategy.
That’s it.
Ready to say goodbye to print servers forever? Just tell us to “Eliminate ’em all.”
Power up with a cloud-native solution and enable centralized, direct IP printing so you can manage your print environment from a single console like a true high-score champion!