Posted by Jordan Pusey
Ready to take your printing into the cloud? Before you choose to float away toward next-gen software as a service (SaaS) or keep your traditional print infrastructure firmly planted on the ground, there are a few things you should expect when migrating to cloud printing.
1. Cloud printing can be as full-featured as on-premises printing: Not all SaaS printing solutions are created equal. When considering or preparing for cloud print migration, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve identified the right SaaS print management solution. Typically, the convenience of cloud printing solutions requires some tradeoffs in terms of features. For example, it’s possible that certain drivers aren’t compatible with your SaaS solution, or legacy devices will provide only limited (or no) functionality after migration. Be aware of the risks of migrating to cloud printers and the possibility that you might lose some device-specific features.
With PrinterLogic SaaS (formerly PrinterCloud), that’s one aspect of cloud printing that you don’t have to worry about. Because PrinterLogic SaaS essentially takes PrinterLogic’s powerful on-premises technology and transfers it to a convenient SaaS model, your organization stands to gain functionality after cloud print migration. PrinterLogic SaaS is fully compatible with all brands of current, future and legacy printers.
2. Cloud printing can be as stable as on-premises printing: Though you might be eager to start migrating to cloud printers, bear in mind that cloud printing solutions all have the same Achilles’ heel: reliance on an Internet connection. Well, almost all of them. Because PrinterLogic SaaS leverages rock-solid direct IP printing technology, which establishes direct connections between clients and printers, an interruption in the WAN connection doesn’t mean that printing stops. That removes one of the big caveats to cloud print migration—and even offers a clear advantage over centralized print servers, for that matter.
3. Cloud printing can provide better oversight and administration: Whether you’re talking about a traditional print infrastructure that’s based on direct IP printing or print servers, effortless centralized administration is not normally used to describe either one of them. Cloud print migration could very well exceed your expectations when it comes to ease of enterprise-wide printer administration.
But here, too, cloud printing solutions can differ. Some have very idiosyncratic deployment methods or don’t offer intuitive printer and driver management. Because PrinterLogic SaaS benefits from the same interface that has earned PrinterLogic so much praise, it makes migrating cloud printers and then managing them—as well as their drivers and profiles—incredibly easy.
4. Cloud printing can be much more affordable for SMBs: For years now, instead of migrating to cloud printers, organizations of all kinds have been using PrinterLogic to completely eliminate their print servers, resulting in a massive reduction in their print infrastructure. That usually results in a massive reduction in the costs of procurement, maintenance, operation and replacement.
However, by virtue of their size, small to medium-sized businesses might not always see the same cost savings through print server elimination as, say, a globe-spanning conglomerate. The SaaS subscription model, the easy flexibility and scalability of cloud printing, the absence of any new infrastructure costs, and the seamless, ongoing updates to cloud printing software have the potential to make cloud print migration a much higher ROI-generating solution for SMBs.
What, then, can you expect from cloud print migration? If you choose PrinterLogic SaaS, you can expect a full range of features, increased stability and availability, better oversight and administration of your print environment, and the potential for more cost savings than comparable on-premises or cloud printing solutions. But you don’t have to completely migrate to cloud printers to find all that out. Try the free PrinterLogic SaaS trial and experience the benefits firsthand.