2 Major Challenges of Deploying a Mobile Print Strategy

Deploying a Mobile Print Strategy

The advent of mobile smartphones and tablets have changed the way we all communicate and do business.

A report by IDC found that 75% of the workforce was mobile in 2010.

As the use of mobility has grown, the need for mobile print is also growing.

In considering a mobile print strategy, there are often many questions that arise from both sides of the equation.

IT departments and system administrators worry how this will affect their daily routines and workflow, while end users may worry about if their BYOD device is supported with mobile print.

Today, most mobile print solutions can address both sides of the equation while standing up to the demanding requirements that an enterprise needs.

Below are two major challenges you must address when considering a mobile print strategy.

IT Perspective

There are typically three major concerns when it comes to IT professionals and their challenges in deploying a mobile print strategy.

• What are the security risks involved by providing employees with mobile printing?
• How much more time and resources will the IT team need to spend on deploying and maintaining a mobile print solution?
• Do unique print drivers or apps need to be installed for each user device for it to work?

Interested in finding out more about mobile print strategies? Check out this free webinar on integrating secure mobile printing into your environment!

While these challenges are completely valid, having a solid mobile print solution will eliminate these concerns by integrating:

• Secure Pull Printing, which allows users to print from any mobile device and their documents are only released when they authenticate themselves through a password or smartcard. In this way, no documents will end up in the wrong hands.
• Mobile Printing Application, which allows users to directly print from their mobile device without having any type of complicated unique set up.

End User Perspective

For end users who are part of the mobile workforce and use their smartphone for business, need to print and share their documents. Some of their challenges include:

• What types of files are supported and what can I print?
• Is my device supported with mobile print?
• Can I print from my mobile directly?

As mobile print continues to grow, the number of mobile devices, printers and multi-function printers that support it will also grow.

Today, mobile printing solutions can support printing, sharing, document management and cloud services depending on the print appliance or multi-function printer’s capabilities.

Most solutions should also support direct printing from all mobile devices, with simply install an application on their phone.

Along with high availability printing from anywhere in the world, document formats like MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, XPS, etc. can be easily converted to smaller pdf files which allows for lower congested bandwidth on the network and ease of use for all end users.