New PaperCut Hive Cloud-Native Server-Less Print Management

On April 6th, PaperCut introduced PaperCut Hive, a cloud-native print-management solution that provides server-less, waste-free printing and print management for workplaces that previously have been unable to manage printing due to the costs of running and maintaining print servers.

PaperCut Hive is said to bring the best-of-breed IoT (Internet of Things) product design to printing due to its Edge Mesh technology. With Edge Mesh, some cloud-printing weaknesses, such as slow printing and inaccessible devices, are eliminated. For instance, if one device in the Edge Mesh is unable to be reached, the other nodes or devices in the Mesh step in to continue processing the print job.

When print jobs are sent, the document is processed within the enterprise’s Edge Mesh, which consists of desktop computers and laptops on the local area network. The only information that is sent to the cloud are print-job details such color/monochrome, number of pages, paper size, etc. Alternately, users – such as those working remotely – can use cloud mode to print to a remote printer, with documents encrypted during transmission.

PaperCut says Hive has been in the works for about three years, when it began a line-one code rewrite for its cloud-native platform three years ago.

Features include secure print release, including from mobile devices. Administrators can control when users can print and to what printers, and configure print rules (such as black-and-white and/or duplex printing). For administrators, it provides usage trends, including printing by user and printer, number of unclaimed print jobs, as well as savings generated by print rules.

For more information on PaperCut Hive, visit the PaperCut here.