Your IT Infrastructure Is Cloud Ready. Is Your Print Environment?

For many IT managers, cloud transformation has already changed how the organisation operates. 

Applications have moved to the cloud. Employees can work securely from different locations. Identity and access are managed centrally. Infrastructure is more visible, flexible and easier to support. 

Yet print is often left behind. 

It may still depend on local servers, ageing drivers, manual device configuration and processes designed for a very different workplace. Because printing continues to work, it can easily escape attention during wider IT planning. 

According to Quocirca’s Cloud Print Services Vendor Landscape 2026, 78% of organisations now use cloud print management either extensively or partially. A further 16% are actively evaluating it. 

Cloud print has become mainstream. The question for IT managers is whether their current print environment supports the wider IT strategy or quietly works against it. 

Cloud print management allows an organisation to manage printing through a cloud platform rather than relying entirely on traditional print servers and locally maintained infrastructure. 

Users send print jobs through a centrally managed service. IT teams can control access, apply security policies, manage devices and monitor usage across multiple offices or locations. 

For the IT department, this can mean fewer servers to maintain, less time spent managing drivers and greater visibility across the print estate. It also makes print easier to align with cloud identity, security and workplace strategies. 

Print is usually treated as a background service. If documents continue to appear at the printer, there may seem to be little reason to change anything. 

However, the infrastructure behind that process can include local servers, outdated drivers, inconsistent access controls and limited visibility of who is printing what. These issues become more significant as organisations adopt hybrid working, open new locations or move other business systems into the cloud. 

Print may represent a relatively small part of the IT environment, but it still touches the network, user identities, business applications and potentially sensitive information. 

Leaving it outside the cloud strategy can preserve unnecessary infrastructure and create an avoidable gap in security and management. 

Yes. A central cloud platform can give IT teams greater visibility and more consistent control across multiple offices. It can also make it easier for authorised users to access appropriate printers when working from different locations, subject to the organisation’s security policies. 

Potentially, but compatibility should be assessed before making a decision. Many organisations operate devices from different manufacturers, of different ages and with different capabilities. A print assessment can identify which devices can be incorporated, which functions will be supported and whether any equipment should be replaced or consolidated. 

It can, but only when the environment is designed and managed correctly. 

Cloud print management can support centralised access controls, user authentication, secure release printing and clearer visibility of activity across the organisation. Documents can be held until the authorised user is physically present at the device, reducing the risk of sensitive information being left unattended. 

IT managers should apply the same scrutiny they would to any cloud service. Where is the data processed? How is it encrypted? Who can access it? How does it integrate with the organisation’s identity platform? What happens if connectivity is interrupted? 

Cloud is not a substitute for good security. It provides an opportunity to apply more consistent controls. 

No. A complete move to cloud print management will suit some organisations, but it is not the only option. 

Consider a business operating from several locations. Its IT team wants central control of users and devices, but one site still depends on a specialist application that requires local print infrastructure. 

Rather than delaying the entire project, the organisation could move suitable users and locations to cloud management while retaining the local integration where it is still needed. This hybrid approach reduces infrastructure and improves visibility without disrupting a critical business process. 

The objective should not be to move everything to the cloud at any cost. It should be to create the right architecture for the organisation. 

Modern print infrastructure is not only about producing paper documents. Multifunction devices are also important entry points for information. 

A scanned document can be captured, classified and sent directly into a cloud storage platform, document management system or approval workflow. This can reduce manual data entry and help information reach the correct person or system more quickly. 

As artificial intelligence and intelligent document processing develop, the connection between print, capture and digital workflow will become increasingly valuable. 

Print may not be the first item on an IT transformation roadmap, but it should not be absent from it. 

Reviewing the current environment can reveal ageing infrastructure, inconsistent security and manual processes that no longer suit the way the organisation works. 

FUTERA can help you assess your print and document infrastructure, identify what should move to the cloud and build a practical migration plan around your users, applications and security requirements.