HP Universal Print Driver White Paper

DIRECT IP PRINTING

with the HP Universal Print Driver

CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2

Background ............................................................................................................................. 2

Recommended process for transition to direct IP ........................................................................... 2

Benefits of direct IP/HP UPD printing .......................................................................................... 3

Benefits for users ................................................................................................................ 3

Benefits for the enterprise .................................................................................................... 3

Benefits for IT .................................................................................................................... 3

Important considerations for moving to direct IP/HP UPD printing .................................................. 3

Characteristics of your enterprise ............................................................................................ 3

Your company’s objectives for printing ................................................................................. 3

Environments where direct IP may not be the best choice ........................................................ 4

Direct IP printing vs. client/server printing ................................................................................... 5

Pros and cons of direct IP printing ........................................................................................... 5

Pros and cons of client/server printing ..................................................................................... 6

For more information ................................................................................................................ 6

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INTRODUCTION

In certain circumstances, a direct IP/HP Universal Print Driver (UPD) printing environment can be an
efficient and cost-effective alternative to a client/server printing environment. HP developed this white
paper to help you decide whether a move to a direct IP/HP UPD environment is right for your
organization.

To help you with this decision, this white paper cites HP’s own successful migration from client/server
printing to direct IP/HP UPD printing. It looks at the background and the business challenges that led
to HP’s decision, and it details the process of the migration. It also addresses possible issues and
benefits for using the HP UPD for direct IP printing in your printing environment.

Direct IP printing connects computers directly to network printers for printing without the need for print
servers. The features of the HP UPD make direct IP printing easy and convenient for users while
simplifying printing support for IT administrators.

BACKGROUND

HP based its decision to migrate from a client/server print environment to a direct IP print environment
on the potential cost savings and the improvements to print management it can provide.

HP’s high-cost print infrastructure was attributed to the following:

• Multiple print architectures—HP’s network contained a variety of print architectures, which lead to
higher IT support costs, including driver deployment and management, print server management,
and end-user support.

• Outdated server hardware—HP considered replacing its server hardware with new equipment,
but it would not have been as cost effective.

RECOMMENDED PROCESS FOR TRANSITION TO DIRECT IP

Before beginning its transition to direct IP/HP UPD printing, HP identified the following important
objectives and tasks:

• Integrate the various enterprise operating environments (Windows, UNIX, Linux, and MPE) and
the various client access devices (servers, desktops, laptops, and PDAs).

• Define global infrastructure standards for enterprise applications printing.

• Define global standard printing hardware for use inside HP.

• Define global general office print infrastructure to reduce cost through reduction of total printers

within HP.

Having support from the Information Technology team was vital for a successful transition to direct
IP/HP UPD, and efforts to secure this support were undertaken early in the process. Since direct IP/
HP UPD printing is a single-driver and print-server-free environment, IT immediately understood that
this transition would dramatically reduce their printing-related costs by eliminating dozens of discrete
drivers to support. The transition enabled HP to reduce IT costs even further by decommissioning all of
its 150 general office print servers.

To facilitate this change, HP used Managed Printing Administration (MPA) to create Managed Printer
Lists (MPLs). One of the key features of MPA/MPLs is clickable image maps that enable users to easily
find available printers. These maps are available in the HP UPD interface in Dynamic Mode. This
provides a tremendous ease of use benefit to users.

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