For decades, printing has been one of the most overlooked parts of IT. It was never particularly exciting, but it was dependable. Documents printed when they were needed. Offices ran smoothly. And most organisations didn’t give their print environment a second thought until recently. Something has changed.
IT teams are spending more time troubleshooting print issues. Security teams are asking tougher questions. Users are frustrated with inconsistent experiences.
And leadership is starting to ask, “Why has printing suddenly become such a problem?”
It’s a fair question – but the answer isn’t simple. The truth is: print itself isn’t complicated. The world changed – and printing didn’t keep up.
The Problem No One Noticed
Traditional print environments were built for a very different era. An era where employees worked from a single office, applications lived on-premises, security focused on firewalls and networks and devices stayed inside clearly defined boundaries. Printing fit neatly into that world.
A typical setup looked like this; a centralised print server, dozens (or hundreds) of print drivers, static printer queues mapped to devices and limited visibility into usage. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. So, organisations kept adding to it: more printers, more drivers, more configurations and more exceptions. Over time, printing became something few people fully understood but everyone relied on.
Then Everything Changed. The cracks in this model didn’t appear overnight. They emerged gradually as three major shifts reshaped IT:
Hybrid Work Changed Everything: The modern workplace is no longer tied to a single location. Within businesses, employees now work from home, across multiple offices, on mobile devices and in shared or flexible workspaces.
But traditional print environments weren’t designed for this. They assume a known network, a fixed location and a direct connection to a print server. The result? Printing becomes inconsistent, unreliable, and difficult to support. Users encounter, missing printers, driver conflicts, failed print jobs and confusing workflows. And IT teams are left trying to patch together solutions that were never designed for this level of flexibility.
Security Went from Important to Critical
At the same time, the risk landscape has changed dramatically. Printers are no longer just output devices, they are Network-connected endpoints, storage devices (with cached documents), authentication points and concerningly, potential entry points for attackers especially in sectors like Government, Healthcare and Financial services. This creates serious compliance and security challenges.
Yet printing often remains one of the least governed parts of IT environments. Common issues include documents sitting uncollected in trays, no visibility into who printed what, weak authentication at devices and limited audit trails. In a world of Zero Trust security, this is a glaring gap.
Identity Became the Foundation of IT
Modern IT is built around a simple principle: access is defined by identity, not location or device. Users authenticate via platforms like Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Okta and Ping. Policies are applied dynamically and access is controlled centrally, but printing hasn’t kept up. Traditional environments still rely on device-specific configurations, network-based access and local drivers which creates a disconnect. Everything else in IT is becoming cloud-managed, identity-driven and policy-controlled while printing remains fragmented, device-centric and hard to govern.
Microsoft Is Resetting the Model
Recognising these challenges, Microsoft is reshaping the way printing works. At the centre of this shift is Windows Protected Print (WPP). This isn’t just another feature update rather it’s a fundamental change in direction. WPP aims to eliminate reliance on legacy third-party drivers, reduce vulnerabilities in the print stack, standardise how print is handled across environments and align printing with modern security principles.
Why This Matters
Historically, print drivers have been a major source of instability, a security risk and difficult to manage at scale. By moving toward a driverless model, Microsoft is simplifying print infrastructure, reducing attack surface and improving consistency…but there’s a catch. This shift also disrupts the way many organisations currently manage printing.
So… why does printing seem so complicated? After all of that, the answer is it doesn’t have to be. Printing didn’t fail; it simply reached the limits of a model built for a different time. What changed was everything around it. Work became distributed, security became central, identity became foundational and cloud became standard. Printing just took longer to catch up.
Why This Matters for Business Leaders
This isn’t just an IT issue – it’s a business one. Organisations that ignore this shift may face increased security exposure, compliance risks, higher support costs and disruptions as Microsoft changes take effect. Organisations that act early can strengthen security posture, simplify IT operations, improve employee experience and future-proof their print environment.
What Should You Do Next?
You don’t need to overhaul everything tomorrow, but you do need a clear plan:
- Assess Your Current Environment. Start with visibility such as how many printers and queues exist? Which drivers are in use? Where are the risks?
- Understand Microsoft’s Roadmap. Windows Protected Print will impact how printing works. Understanding timeline, compatibility and dependencies is critical to avoiding disruption.
- Close Security Gaps Ask practical questions like do users authenticate before, printing, can we track document activity, are sensitive documents protected?
- Evaluate Modern Print Solutions. Solutions like PaperCut and YSoft can add security and control, enable hybrid work scenarios and support compliance requirements.
- Align with Your Broader Strategy. Printing should not sit in isolation, it should align with cloud strategy, identity and access management and Zero Trust security.
