Tavs Dalaa, CTO
5 min read
When kept separate from your cloud first strategy, your print infrastructure will be a common source of headaches, and it’s not hard to see why. With a sole reliance on on-site print servers, one office can have hundreds of print queues operating at any given time, leading to complicated dynamics and a wide error margin. And if we’re being real—the hassle doesn’t end there.
Not only do you need to ensure that every user has access to these print queues, but also that the necessary drivers are installed locally to communicate with those queues. What’s even worse is that these traditional print drivers also need to be installed one by one, with no option for global control.
To streamline an entire print environment and let go of those burdens sounds like a dream. But is it realistic or are we forever condemned to handling our print jobs like it’s 2002?
As a whole, the cloud first strategy enables organisations to let go of on-premises infrastructure and maintenance within IT departments. By including print in a business’s cloud first model, print infrastructures can be modernised, maintenance costs reduced, and security risks mitigated.
By choosing a cloud print solution, you can propel your company into the modern-day and set your IT department up for unimaginable success with the energy and time allocated to mission-critical IT developments. Let’s have a look at how this is made possible.
Cloud First is Modernisation in Action
If your company employs a cloud-based strategy, then chances are that most of your IT services have moved to the cloud already. This includes popular platforms that your team likely uses on a daily basis like Office 365, SharePoint, Azure AD, and more.
Utilising cloud technology is modernisation and digital transformation very much in action.
Sadly, what many companies leave behind in their quest for cloud-enabled efficiency is their print infrastructure. And it’s really through no fault of their own—although some players, like the now-defunct Google Cloud Services, have popularised the concept of cloud printing, it has remained a relatively untapped industry.
One of the reasons for the industry remaining untapped is that many companies are under the impression that secure cloud-based solutions for printing can't exist. Or, if they think it’s possible, they worry that it would cause a massive upheaval to their users and the way they print to the point where the switch wouldn’t even be worth it.
Neither of these assumptions is true—at least they aren’t if you’re strategic about the way you adapt your cloud first strategy. And if you want to be strategic, you’re going to need SAFEQ Cloud.
What Exactly is SAFEQ Cloud?
Yes (!), another acronym in the tech world–definitely something we don’t have enough of already. In this case, SAFEQ Cloud stands for “SAFEQ Cloud.” But what exactly does that mean?
SAFEQ Cloud is a true cloud-based print infrastructure solution, powered by Y Soft, that eliminates the need for print servers. Instead, your entire print environment is migrated to the cloud, which means that print jobs are deployed from any device to a web-based infrastructure with ease. With this highly scalable solution, you can shift capacities depending on business needs.
If you’re concerned about data storage safety with SAFEQ Cloud, fear not. Whether you choose to use a private cloud or a public cloud service, with SAFEQ Cloud, your print jobs always stay safely behind your own firewall’s protection. This means that the central management and setup are controlled by the cloud—and your data is safe and secure.
SAFEQ Cloud includes a single print driver which supports all printers and MFPs, which means that you can enjoy seamless operation across all printing manufacturers and operating systems—a positive thing for IT departments that are often dealing with a wide range of equipment.
Let’s delve deeper into what you get with a cloud-first print solution like SAFEQ Cloud.
Big Convenience and Big Savings
If you’ve developed a cloud first strategy before, then you know how quickly your company’s transition can turn into bottom-line savings. Companies can save an average of 15% on all IT costs by migrating to the cloud. Even better, it is estimated that companies can cut costs by up to 30% when they ditch their traditional printing practices.
These savings come from a reduction in equipment and a more productive IT team that is free to spend their time tending to more pressing, on-mission tasks. Even more, cloud-based printing is extremely cost-effective, since you only pay for the licenses you need, as SAFEQ Cloud comes as a subscription-based SaaS solution.
SAFEQ Cloud comes with no upfront investments. Our SaaS model lets you scale up or down as required and only pay for the licenses you need.
Think of it this way—when your IT team is busy tending to a printing-related issue, not only is it a use of resources, but it’s also a distraction away from other possible technology.
Quick Implementation and Fast ROI
Expanding your cloud-first journey and switching over to cloud-only printing management is quite simple and painless. Once installation is complete, all management is handled from one simple web-based UI (central interface). You can decide whether you’d like to control this interface yourself or outsource it to a trusted partner.
The typical ROI time for SAFEQ Cloud users is 6-12 months. However, you’ll likely see an improvement in the quality of your IT team’s experience immediately.
Seamless Cloud Computing
Traditional user printing is a familiar crux for IT departments, with print jobs getting lost and servers breaking down. With your team able to easily print from all kinds of devices to all types of printers, they will be empowered to handle their print jobs, with no necessary trips to the IT desk. Seamless cloud printing solutions come as a saving grace for IT departments.
Plus, with innovative pull printing capabilities, your team members will be in control of exactly when a print document is released, leaving less room for sensitive information to be left in the print tray for all eyes to see.
IT teams are the backbone of any technology company. While they work tirelessly every day (and sometimes at night) to ensure that a business can operate smoothly, they can most efficiently do their jobs when they have the right tools at their disposal. Finding the perfect print solution for your business isn’t as hard as it seems—it’s SAFEQ Cloud. Here’s why:
- Streamlined print infrastructure (everything in one place)
- Enabled global IT control (IT has full visibility of the print environment)
- Full-featured single-driver (never install another print driver again)
- Printer/brand agnostic (use whichever brands you prefer, or mix multiple)
- Zero-trust safety model (advanced authentication, data center security, etc.)
- Process compliance and certifications
FAQs on Cloud First Printing
What is the Benefit of Cloud Printing?
Cloud print benefits, among others, are cost savings, high environmental flexibility, advanced security measures, IT team freedom, less troubleshooting/maintenance, speedy print procedures, high scalability and business agility, cloud high availability, and more. Find out more about why you should move to the cloud.
What Is a Cloud First World?
In total, cloud first refers to cloud migration being considered before any other possible solution, either when addressing IT pain points, optimising IT departmental availability, or launching new projects. A cloud first world resides within major cloud providers such as AWS or Azure, where companies have individualised environments, but shared features, tools, and infrastructure.
Since Y Soft's acquisition of EveryonePrint, our united aim is to become cloud-first, not cloud-only, and enable businesses globally to accelerate their digital transformation and leverage cloud technology to let go of IT burdens.
Final Points
SAFEQ Cloud is a unique Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) print solution. Through SAFEQ Cloud, we’ve helped a wide range of companies free up their IT administration’s time and enjoy easy, secure printing that is hosted in either private, public, or hybrid cloud environments.
Do you want to learn more about how SAFEQ Cloud helps businesses of all sizes (SMBs to large enterprises) modernise their print infrastructure, save money, and transcend their cloud-first strategy?
Have a look at one of our customers, Brusafe, the Brussels security campus. When they needed their print setup to be part of their cloud first strategy, SAFEQ Cloud was there–as an invisible system, that was just there, and worked perfectly.
Make print part of your cloud first strategy, and transcend your IT team far beyond their traditional print hassles, headaches, and horrors. How? Here’s what Brusafe did:
