Getting started with printer virtualisation
Benoît Chatelard
15/05/2008

If you were able to look at all the printers on your network you’d probably be surprised to see such a wide selection of different devices. Some would be network printers while others would be standalone devices. You’ll find colour printers, inkjets, lasers and possibly a few multi-function printers (MFP) – and not a single one of them would share the same drivers, toner or even paper supplies. It’s an administrative nightmare because processes are inflexible, expensive and give rise to a very large consumables bill.

If you look further you’ll also find that most of your printers will have been bought on an ad hoc basis and probably bought on the basis of functions and initial costs. However, the total cost of ownership (TCO) includes the total consumables cost throughout the printer’s life, inventory costs plus various management and maintenance overheads. In other words, the initial cost is just a fraction of the overall TCO.

The key to reducing the printers’ TCO lies in printer virtualisation, which replaces your current nightmare with a more centralised and standardised solution that streamlines processes and workflows. Virtualisation is currently taking the server world by storm. By using server virtualisation software, a single large server can do the work of many smaller servers and that same technique can also be used in the printer world.

Companies that embrace printer virtualisation adopt a shared-printer model (rather than one with dedicated printers), where users print to a more powerful workgroup printer or a workgroup MFP. The workgroup printers are faster, better utilised, more manageable and (since you’re now using fewer printers) cheaper to maintain with fewer consumables. A shared-printer model can typically reduced total output costs by up to 30 per cent.

While there are definite advantages to the IT department and the businesses bottom-line, there are also advantages to the end user. As you have now standardised on a small set of printers, you now need fewer printer drivers installed on any networked device. Thus, users who are hot-desking – working from any unoccupied cubicle – will always be able to print immediately to the nearest printer without having to first find – and load – new drivers. In addition, larger printers tend to have more useful features such as double-sided printing, password security for secure document printing as well as colour printing. Furthermore, they are faster and produce printouts of better quality, so end-user documents look more professional.

To get started with printer virtualisation, download an InfoPrint Solutions paper from http://www.infoprint.com/uk/insights. This paper identifies three key steps to virtualise printers and make more effective use of your printing assets.

- Benoît Chatelard is Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific InfoPrint Solutions. 

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