The printing industry is buzzing with promises of a "serverless utopia" – claims that eliminating print servers will solve all your infrastructure woes while saving money and simplifying management.
While these print server-free narratives sound compelling, experienced system administrators know that enterprise infrastructure decisions require deeper analysis than marketing buzzwords can provide.
After over 28+ years dedicated exclusively to solving enterprise printing challenges, we've learned that the most successful organizations don't chase technological trends – they implement solutions that actually serve their operational requirements.
The Fundamental Question: What Does "Serverless" Really Mean?
Let's address the elephant in the room: serverless printing isn't actually serverless. When vendors promote serverless solutions, they're essentially asking you to replace your controlled, on-premises print servers with their print servers running in someone else's data center. The servers haven't disappeared – you've just surrendered control over them.
This distinction matters more than marketing teams would have you believe. For small and medium businesses (SMBs) with limited IT resources, this trade-off often makes sense. However, for large enterprises managing complex, regulated environments, handing over infrastructure control introduces risks that dwarf any potential convenience gains.
Print Servers: Centralized Power and Scalable Control
Companies running large-scale or hybrid IT setups rely on print servers for a reason. Print servers simplify driver updates, manage print queues centrally, and reduce help desk tickets by giving IT teams real control. Modern servers can handle complex group policies, track usage, host map-based printer location tools, and provide redundancy options like failover and clustering to keep jobs moving reliably.
Benefits include:
- Centralized management and print queue control
- Easier scaling across sites and departments
- Robust security features: encryption, auditing, role-based access
- IT-driven print policies and job prioritization
- Reliability with failover/clustering options
Drawbacks:
- Upfront hardware and maintenance requirements
- New servers must be managed as business grows
- Single point of failure risk—mitigated with high-availability planning
Enterprise Security: Why Properly Managed Print Servers Win for Regulated Industries
For healthcare, finance, legal, and government organizations, print security isn't optional—it's mandated by regulations like HIPAA, SOX, PCI DSS, and GDPR. When properly configured, print servers provide superior security control compared to cloud-dependent alternatives, especially for highly regulated environments.
- Data Locality and Compliance: Print servers keep sensitive documents within your controlled infrastructure, ensuring data never traverses public internet connections or resides in third-party cloud storage. This is critical for HIPAA-covered entities handling patient data or financial institutions managing SOX compliance requirements.
- Centralized Security Controls: Modern print servers enable comprehensive audit trails, end-to-end encryption, and role-based access controls. Unlike serverless solutions where you depend on vendor security implementations, enterprise IT teams can configure authentication, PIN-based release, and user permissions to meet specific regulatory requirements.
- Reduced Attack Surface: While cloud printing introduces internet-dependent vulnerabilities and third-party security dependencies, properly managed print servers eliminate external attack vectors. Print jobs never leave your network perimeter, reducing exposure to man-in-the-middle attacks and unauthorized cloud access.
- Zero Trust Alignment: Enterprise print servers integrate seamlessly with Zero Trust security frameworks, enabling per-session user and device verification without relying on external cloud providers. This alignment is increasingly important as organizations move away from perimeter-based security models.
The key advantage: you control the security implementation, audit processes, and compliance reporting rather than trusting external vendors to maintain standards you cannot directly verify.
Direct IP Printing: Simple, Fast for the Right Teams
Direct IP printing is perfect for smaller businesses or teams that value flexibility. Each user’s workstation communicates directly with printers, skipping server layers and streamlining the print process. Users get autonomy and self-service, which is great for static environments or remote branches where a server would be overkill.
Benefits include:
- No need for networked servers
- Reduces complexity and bottlenecks
- Empowers users to pick printers and set profiles
- Low upfront infrastructure costs
Drawbacks:
- Configuration and driver deployment are manual, error-prone, and don’t scale well
- Lack of policy enforcement and centralized reporting
- Tougher troubleshooting—issues only show up device by device
- Oversight is decentralized, increasing risk as business evolves
Why Binary Thinking Fails—and Hybrid Wins
Most mature enterprises blend print servers and direct IP. Headquarters and big offices benefit from centralized servers, while branch sites or remote users thrive with direct IP. Tricerat’s ScrewDrivers is designed for exactly this landscape: a flexible approach to print infrastructure that adapts to real business needs—not vendor philosophies.
Hybrid advantages:
- Centralized driver management and monitoring even for direct IP fleets
- Automated failover and redundancy for on-prem print server setups
- Reporting, security, and compliance at scale
- Users can self-service printers while IT keeps oversight
Decision Factors for Modern IT Leaders
| Feature |
Traditional Print Server |
Direct IP Printing |
ScrewDrivers Enhanced Print Server |
| Setup |
Complex driver management per server |
Manual per device configuration |
Automated import & universal driver eliminates complexity |
| Driver Management |
Driver conflicts, brand-specific servers needed |
Manual updates on every workstation |
Single universal driver handles all manufacturers |
| Single Point of Failure |
Server crash = everyone loses printing |
Individual device failures only |
Built-in failover support for high availability |
| Scalability |
Performance bottlenecks with high loads |
Poor scaling, manual reconfig |
Optimized print spooler operation for better scaling |
| Maintenance Overhead |
High - patches, updates, driver conflicts |
Low infrastructure, high manual work |
Dramatically reduced maintenance with universal driver |
| User Impact |
Login delays from GPO complexity |
Full user autonomy, potential errors |
Fast printer availability without driver delays |
| Security |
PrintNightmare vulnerabilities, complex patching |
Harder to enforce centralized policies |
Enterprise encryption, PIN release, comprehensive audit trails |
| Network Impact |
WAN traffic for remote sites |
Direct local printing |
TMF protocol optimizes and compresses print jobs |
| Cost |
High infrastructure, licensing, multi-server sprawl |
Low upfront, high ongoing manual costs |
Permanent licensing, eliminates ongoing per-user fees |
ScrewDrivers: Enterprise-grade Security and Rapid ROI Without Forced Compromises
ScrewDrivers eliminates the downsides and enhances all options:
- One console to manage both print servers and direct IP printers
- Drag-and-drop assignments, Active Directory integration, central driver management
- Automated driver updates, real-time print auditing, and compliance tracking
- Failover built-in for print server environments, and low-bandwidth direct IP for remote teams
ScrewDrivers lets you build a print strategy around user needs and business realities, not restrictions. Whether running hybrid cloud, physical desktops, or remote work, you get security, flexibility, and control—plus minimal headaches and support tickets. Instead of forcing a rip and replace strategy, we work with you to understand the best path forward for printing based on your specific requirements.
Stop choosing between extremes. Choose a print management approach that actually fits your environment.
Ready to see the hybrid difference?
