Question:

How to enable multi-tenant printing with Printix for guest organisations that already use Printix?

I am a senior print shop employee in a local government office (not in the US) and I am responsible for managing the user and hardware aspects of the printers in our building. Our IT department and printer supplier handle the software and network setup. We recently migrated from UNIflow to Printix due to our old equipment and tender requirements. Printix is not my preferred choice, but I have to work with it.

We are planning to share our building and printers with other organisations, some of which already use Printix in their own offices. However, we encountered a problem: their Printix Clients are configured for their own tenants and cannot connect to ours. They claim that they can print at another host organisation that uses the same Printix supplier and tenant as them, but we have a different supplier and tenant. This seems to prevent us from facilitating them with our printers.

Is there any workaround for this issue? I would like to use Mail2Print, but Printix does not support it, unlike UNIflow. I need to find a solution before I report to management that it is not possible. Multi-tenant printing was one of the criteria in our tender, but it only applies to non-Printix users, so I am stuck with Printix for the foreseeable future.

Any suggestions or insights from experts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer:

Printix is a cloud-based print management solution that allows users to print from any device to any printer, without the need for servers, drivers, or VPNs. Printix is designed to be scalable, secure, and easy to use, but it also has some limitations and challenges, especially when it comes to multi-tenant printing.

Multi-tenant printing is the ability to share printers across different organisations or departments, while maintaining control and visibility over the print activity and costs. This can be useful for organisations that share office space, resources, or services, such as local governments, co-working spaces, or educational institutions.

However, not all print management solutions support multi-tenant printing, or they may require complex configurations and integrations to enable it. Printix is one of those solutions that does not have a native multi-tenant printing feature, and it can pose some problems for organisations that want to facilitate printing for their guests or partners that already use Printix.

The main problem is that Printix uses a concept of tenants, which are separate and isolated instances of Printix that are linked to a specific domain or organisation. Each tenant has its own set of users, printers, policies, and settings, and they cannot communicate or interact with each other. This means that a user who belongs to one tenant cannot print to a printer that belongs to another tenant, even if they are physically in the same location.

This can be frustrating for organisations that want to offer printing services to their guests or partners that already use Printix, as they cannot simply add them as guest users to their own tenant, or invite them to join their tenant. They would have to create a new tenant for each guest organisation, and configure the printers and settings for each one. This can be time-consuming, costly, and impractical, especially if there are many guest organisations or frequent changes.

There are some possible workarounds for this issue, but they are not ideal or foolproof. One workaround is to use a third-party service or application that can integrate with Printix and enable multi-tenant printing, such as PaperCut, ezeep, or ThinPrint. These services can act as a bridge between different Printix tenants, and allow users to print to any printer regardless of the tenant they belong to. However, these services may require additional fees, subscriptions, or installations, and they may not be compatible with all devices, printers, or networks.

Another workaround is to use a different print management solution that supports multi-tenant printing natively, such as UNIflow, which was the previous solution used by the local government office in this case. UNIflow has a feature called Mail2Print, which allows users to print by sending an email with an attachment to a specific address. This way, users do not need to install any software or join any tenant, and they can print to any printer that is configured to receive emails. However, this workaround would require switching back to UNIflow, which may not be possible or desirable, as it may entail breaking the contract with Printix, losing the benefits of Printix, or facing compatibility issues with the new equipment.

In conclusion, multi-tenant printing with Printix for guest organisations that already use Printix is not a straightforward or simple task, and it may require some compromises or trade-offs. Printix does not have a built-in multi-tenant printing feature, and it uses a tenant-based architecture that prevents users from printing across different tenants. There are some workarounds, such as using a third-party service or application that can integrate with Printix, or using a different print management solution that supports multi-tenant printing, but they may have some drawbacks or limitations. Therefore, organisations that want to enable multi-tenant printing with Printix should carefully evaluate their needs, options, and costs, and consult with their IT department, printer supplier, and Printix support team, before making a decision.