Weather reports aside, the Cloud is a network of data centers that are connected to the internet with top-notch security measures in place. With cloud, you don't have to worry about managing and maintaining the data center yourself - the Cloud vendors take care of it for you. They ensure that the data center is always up and running smoothly and comply with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to make sure you have the best experience possible.
As a whole, cloud connectivity is an internet-based connection between a private network and a public cloud. Cloud-connected businesses increase IT efficiency by minimizing manual work and hardware reliance while maximizing scalability and control. Cloud connectivity solutions can help make print management processes more efficient.
Let’s take a look at how to connect your printer fleet to cloud print solutions and make print easy for IT and everyone printing. We’ll start with the aaS’s of the cloud computing world 🌎
How do you get Cloud-Connected?
How do you connect your organization to cloud printing capacities? There are different ways to become enabled with cloud solutions, either with IaaS, SaaS, or PaaS.
The Cloud enables organizations to:
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Move infrastructure off-premises (Infrastructure as a Service, IaaS): This lightens the IT load, reduces the financial burden, and frees up space in the office.
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Host software off-premises (Software as a Service, SaaS): This makes applications accessible and accountable from anywhere with an Internet connection.
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Manage a hardware/software solution or platform off-premises (Platform as a Service, PaaS): This liberates customers and partners from geographic constraints.
To ensure the maximum value of your chosen cloud assets, it's paramount to consider the best network and cloud connectivity model and service provider for your company and IT needs.
What’s the cloud business model?
Moving to the cloud means that instead of owning and servicing your own infrastructure and software applications on-site, you subscribe to them. So, instead of maintaining a local infrastructure yourself, you simply connect to a vendor-maintained cloud solution.
Think about it. When you subscribe to a newspaper, you don’t have to gather, write and publish the news yourself. More importantly, you don't have to own a printing press. When you subscribe to a newspaper, it just gets delivered—as a service. With a cloud-connected print management infrastructure, it’s the exact same thing.
Hosting business services and applications in the cloud delivers numerous business benefits, including:
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Improved 24/7 support
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Increased infrastructure resilience
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More deployment options (including hybrid)
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Automatically scales to handle periods of peak printing
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Simple scalability to be easily aligned with business growth
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Lower costs and no upfront investment
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Moving associated costs from capital to operational expenses
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Enhanced security with zero-trust, user authentication, and more
What’s the difference between Cloud Printing and Cloud Print Management?
Cloud Printing is the ability to securely print to any printer anywhere with an Internet connection. A cloud print service connects digital devices like smartphones, laptops, and workstations with printer stations. Facilitated by a small form-factor appliance (OMNI Bridge) at the business location or at home, it has proved to be a robust, easy-to-use, and affordable print solution for mobile and at-home workers as well as small and midsized businesses (SMBs).
Learn more here: 7 Levels of Cloud Printing
Cloud Print Management delivers the print governance and business analytics that enterprises need to monitor the secure usage and manage the cost of print services across multiple business locations globally.
Are my business documents secure in the Cloud?
In addition to the robust security assured by reliable Internet and data center providers, Y Soft employs additional strategies and devices to keep business content completely safe.
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Y Soft Cloud Print Management natively separates document content and the print system metadata that yields business insights. With SAFEQ Managed, print jobs are sent to the Cloud and back so, document content and print traffic remain onsite.
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The SAFEQ software was designed to meet and even exceed the highest security standards. The use of an on-premises OMNI serverless device lets SMBs keep data safe onsite and help to maintain the on-premises Internet service if bandwidth should be slow.
How is Cloud print management infrastructure supported?
Support is Y Soft’s sweet spot. It’s what differentiates us from other vendors. Partner and User Support is available worldwide and delivers pre-sale and post-sale support, as well as training.
Any company directly supported by Y Soft or a Y Soft Certified Partner receives training via Y Soft to ensure that knowledgeable experts are always on hand and up to speed. With the acquisition of EveryonePrint, we’ve expanded our team of support experts, which ensures higher availability for partners and users during support hours. Support services are offered by subscription at basic and premium levels.
What about uptime?
Uptime’s secret middle name is Resilience. SAFEQ Managed was designed to be hosted on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, which in turn has been created with resilience, security, speed, and serviceability built in. Our cloud products are containerized for security and performance using Azure Kubernetes Services.
Our SAFEQ Cloud solution is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in five different locations with three availability zones per location, offering cloud high availability and little-to-no downtime.
Subscribers choose the levels of resilience they require to maintain the availability of their cloud-connected print services, at home and around the world.
FAQs on Cloud Connectivity
1) What is cloud connectivity for print?
Cloud connectivity for print is the unique ability to print from anywhere using a cloud-based software platform. Instead of being physically connected to a printer, cloud connectivity allows users to send print jobs to a printer from their computer, tablet, or smartphone using the internet.
2) How does cloud connectivity work for print?
Cloud connectivity for a print environment works by connecting a printer fleet to a cloud-based platform. This platform allows users to send print jobs to the printer from anywhere, at any time, with a network connection. The print job is sent to the cloud platform, which then communicates with the printer to trigger the print job printout once the document owner authenticates at the print device.
3) What are the benefits of cloud-connected print?
Cloud connectivity for print offers many benefits, including increased flexibility, cost savings, and improved productivity. With cloud connectivity, users can print from anywhere, at any time, without being physically present at the printer.
This makes it easier for employees to work remotely and for businesses to save on printing costs. Additionally, cloud connectivity can improve productivity and IT efficiency by allowing employees to print on-the-go, without having to wait until they are back in the office.
Final Points
Are you looking to become cloud-connected? By including print in your cloud-first strategy, you can enable your IT team to let go of on-prem infrastructure and the maintenance of it. Introduce cloud connectivity solutions to your print environment to future-proof your IT department, simplify the print user experience, and reduce costs–all while mitigating security risks and lessening the burden on your IT heroes.
Find out how you can optimize your cloud-first strategy with a cloud-connected print ecosystem here:
→ Transcend your Cloud First Strategy with Cloud Printing