2011 Best Practices for Printer Management.docx

7/21/2019 2011 Best Practices for Printer Management.docx

1/10

BEST PRACTICES FOR

PRINTER MANAGEMENT:

PRINTING AND THEORACLE E-BUSINESS SUITE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Managing printers within the Oracle E-Business Suite is acomplicated, time consuming and manually laborious matterTypically, the administrator must install the printer within the variousoperating and geographic environments, followed by the installationwithin the Oracle E-Business Suite itself. When coupled with otherimplementation-related challenges, there remains a significanopportunity to automate, thus working smarter, not harder, and savingboth time and money.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Printer Usage Trends...............................................................................2

Regulatory requirements fuel the fire.....................................................3

Security plays an increasing role........................................................3Effects of Printing on the Business .........................................................4

Impact to Delivery Dates ......................................................................4

Increase in Administrative Effort .........................................................4

Increase in Expense and Support calls................................................4

Managing Printers in an Oracle E-Business Suite Environment............5

From the Users Perspective ...............................................................5

The Reality ............................................................................................5

Technical Requirements for Direct IP Printing ...................................5

Making the most of the situation .............................................................7

Another Scenario..................................................................................7

Solutions for Printing and the OEBS........................................................8

Components of Real Solutions.............................................................8

Unitask Output Director ...........................................................................8

Benefits of Output Director ..................................................................9

About Unitask .........................................................................................10

Copyright 2011, Unitask, Inc., All rights reserved. This document is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to

change without notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally orimplied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liabilitywith respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document. This document may not bereproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our prior written permission. Unitask is atrademark of Unitask, Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.


2/10

!UNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

Managing printers within the Oracle E-Business Suite is a complicated, time consuming andmanually laborious matter. Typically, the administrator must install the physical printer withinthe various operating and geographic environments, followed by an installation andconfiguration within the network addressing schema tables, which is then followed by animplementation and configuration within the Oracle E-Business Suite itself. When coupled withother implementation-related challenges that are core and essential to the applicationcustomization and roll out, there remains a significant opportunity to automate, thus workingsmarter, not harder, and saving both time and money.

In the following paper, we will explore best practices for Enterprise Output Management withtopics including:

The current printer/output usage trend and what this means for the Oracle E-BusinessSuite administrator

Tips and tricks for managing printers in an Oracle E-Business Suite environment Solutions for printing directly to any printer Secure printing

PRINTER USAGE TRENDS

Since the invention of the personal computer, technology pundits have espoused the concept ofthe paperless office. Many have argued that once hardware and applications were sufficientlypowerful to manage all data electronically, the need for paper would evaporate. Conversely,others have argued that the proliferation of personal computers and their associated ease ofuse, permit users to print data at will and would subsequently increase printing in theworkplace exponentially, not decrease it.

In reality, published results show that there was a 50% increase in printed paper in offices in2005 when compared with the amount printed in 1995.

1

REASONS THAT CUSTOMERS PRINT MATERIALS2

1Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper. The Myth of the Paperless Office. MIT Press, 2002.

2Lexmark & OKeefe Research. 2009 Government Printing Report.


3/10

#UNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

In short, Technology is now actually driving massive increases in office printing and paperusage, not eliminating it as originally theorized. Individuals now have more control of what getsprinted and when, so printing is more effective, but also more voluminous. Thus printing mustbe considered a foundational piece of business management that is here to stay. When furthercoupled with the fact that printing is often regarded as a tool to help workers better digest,manage and track information to do their jobs, it is a practice, which will not be easilyeliminated.

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FUEL THE FIRE

The root desire for printing and printed consumption cannot be centered on only one issue ortheme. Like so many IT initiatives today, internal policies, external regulations and the basicbusiness trepidation that accompanies the specter of an audit, all play a key role in thecontinued rise in printer and paper usage.

From a practical sense, paper in its very form will continue to be in use as it is providesphysical evidence that many accounting and legal arguments stand upon, it provides backup andprotection against electronic failure, as well as it simply provides emotional comfort from beingable to hold a tangible historical document. Even as electronic communication becomes moresecure and auditable, printed material will continue to be the most reliable and trusted type ofdocument for the foreseeable future. Having a physical paper trail remains at the heart of mostregulations, providing the most basic level of proof and accountability of actions. When coupledwith the many external regulations concerning archiving requirements, companies will need tomaintain these auditable paper trails for years to come.

SECURITY PLAYS AN INCREASING ROLE

In addition to regulatory requirements, the modern enterprise is plagued with an increase invirus attacks, computer crashes, laptop theft and a lack of comprehensive security forinformation. Each issue remains daunting, but when coupled together, they form an unshakable

fear that keeps users from going completely paperless. Through the simple and most basic actof putting printed paper in a locked filing cabinet, a users information is comparatively safe andsecure to that stored on portable computers or removable media in the eyes of the most hardenand cynical business manager.

Demanding users such as Human Resources Directors, Payroll Managers and DepartmentalExecutives need assurances that their printed information is as secure as possible, as theyoften feel specific personal liability for the safe guarding of sensitive information. However,these users, who do have a need to print information like other employees, further demandreduced risk of breach, while maintaining sensitive information to eliminate exposure to finesand liability if the information is sent to a central printing room. As a result, these employeesseek printers to be located closer to their offices if not directly in their office, thus contributing

to a proliferation of devices, higher usage of consumables such as ink and paper and furthercomplicates the management of output in a distributed environment.


4/10

$UNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

EFFECTS OF PRINTING ON THE BUSINESS

To date, historical data has shown that printed output is on the rise, not on the decline, and thatthe burdens imposed by regulations, legal mandates as well as privacy concerns all will forcethis trend line to continue to rise. This continued escalation has many important implications to

organizations using the Oracle E-Business Suite.

IMPACT TO DELIVERY DATES

In most Oracle E-Business Suite implementations, only a few print devices are initially setup.This is done to ensure to simply verify that developed print functionality operates correctlyduring the implementation and testing phases. Generally, plans call for additional print devicesto be included during the subsequent enterprise rollout.

However, as with most technology projects, postponing the inevitable does little to solve thepending challenge, but often leads to a condition of scope creep, which ultimately hascatastrophic impacts on the entire project. As new requirements are added, new complexitiesare layered into the delivery project, all of which threatens the timing and very health of the

project. When further complicated by time and distance, i.e., implementations in remote distantgeographies, the probability of success drops dramatically. One of the most common reasonsfor scope creep and projects that fail to meet expectations is the setup of printers around theorganization, which again, may also be around the world.

INCREASE IN ADMINISTRATIVE EFFORT

As noted above, when scope creep plays a role in either the implementation or on goingdevelopment and deployment of any Oracle E-Business Suite installation, completion dates arein jeopardy. But as any experienced Oracle E-Business Suite administrator or developer knows,delays in delivering new or updated functionalitywhether it be additional features or supportfor new printersis, in the best case, frowned upon, and in the worst case, unacceptable.

In situations where work piles up but associated delivery dates are not allowed to slip, the onlysolution is to work harder, and the length of workdays begin to creep in parallel with projectscopes.

INCREASE IN EXPENSE AND SUPPORT CALLS

Even after the Oracle E-Business Suite is implemented, users will, as stated above, continue towant additional printing. This apparently insatiable demand will result in an increase in printerhardware expense, an increase in consumable expense, as well as an exponential increase ininternal support calls and burdens to the support staff. In short, the insatiable user demand toprint is an expense that transcends hardware, but is a balance sheet burden due to theadministrative effort, expense and non-productive investment of manually setting up and

maintaining those printers.

Conversely, should an IT Department elect notto meet user demand for more printing options,individual departments often opt to take matters into their own hands by purchasing their ownprinters. Only then will they find out that which Oracle E-Business Suite administrators alreadyknowsetting up a printer within the Oracle Applications is not as simple as plugging theprinter into a USB port. This leaves IT in both a political and support quandary.


5/10

%UNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

MANAGING PRINTERS IN AN ORACLE E-BUSINESS SUITE ENVIRONMENT

FROM THE USERS PERSPECTIVE

Because of the perceived simplicity and application homogeneity of the corporate desktopcomputer, users often expect all applications to operate similarly. Whether opening a file,

sending an email or printing a report, users believe all applications offer similar ease of use.That is to say, they want to print as easily from Oracle as they do from Microsoft Office Word.However, as experienced Oracle administrations already know, printing from the users desktopis markedly different between Microsoft based applications and the Oracle E-Business Suite.This dissimilar printing capability between a Windows based device and the Oracle ApplicationSuite, while factual in nature, is considered unacceptable by all in the user community. Hence,the disconnect between reality and desire begins.

THE REALITY

The Oracle e-Business Suite was designed to run on any platform such as UNIX, Linux, Windowsor an assorted number of other, less-frequently encountered platforms. A consistent printinginfrastructure is an important component to allowing Oracle Applications to run on these

platforms, but one, which must be provided by the underlying operating system environment. Inthis section, we will review different printing configurations and provide the steps necessary forimplementing each. Finally, we draw a blueprint for the ultimate printing solution

To standardize on one single printing solution across these many platforms, Oracle chose thegeneric TCP/IP printing approach. Two possible configurations exist for TCP/IP-based printing:

Attach the printer directly to a UNIX server or Address the remote printer directly through its own, unique IP address

The reality of the modern enterprise is that very few organizations that deploy TCP/IP-basedprinting use printers that CAN connect directly to servers, let alone desire to. Most serverstoday are run in a lights out, secure remote environment to which access is strictly limited ifnot prohibited. That leaves remote TCP/IP-based printers.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR DIRECT IP PRINTING

In the situation at right, both the OracleApplications server and the printers haveunique and directly accessible IP addresses.As such, the two can communicate with eachother. However, issues arise whenestablishing this sort of printing configurationwithin the context of the Oracle E-BusinessSuite.

The level of effort required forimplementation and configuration can bestaggering. Many organizations havehundreds if not thousands of printers to setup and maintain. To limit the administrative burden,organizations may limit the number of supported devices, pushing for a homogeneousenvironment that may make operational sense, or even financial sense, but rarely provides asolution that the user community may agrees with.


6/10

&UNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

Oracle Applications Server

with IP Address

[196.216.2.3 / Public

/

User requests

printout

IP-capable

printer

InternetLAN

Hidden either because it is

NATTE D or it is a n on-IP-

capable printer

Atlanta user

LAN

San Francisco Atlanta

In the Organization of today, user satisfaction is a must for consideration. Users are generallyunaware of the effort required to meet their own printing demands: they simply demand thatthey be able to print to the same printer they have always printed to or the one that is mostconvenient for them. Yet, as noted above, the user demand may not justify the staggering levelof effort and expense. The result? Limited printing capabilities, dissatisfied users and anenterprise level of unmet expectations and the much-anticipated deployment has just begun.

The discourse that often begins at this most basic level is however further complicated by theneed for security of information in todays chaotic world. There are two security-relatedramifications to this printing scenario that must be addressed. To print, the server must be ableto see the IP address of the IP-enabled printer. However, many organizations, in order toprotect themselves from a virtual attack, build electronic security fences around theirperimeter or even between their various remote offices by implementing firewalls with NetworkAddress Translation (NAT). There are two outcomes to this particular security decision:

The servers can no longer see the actual IP address of the target printer, which means

the server cannot direct their printouts to the target printer. A user cannot print to a printer in their office because the printers IP address is

hidden (because of Network Address Translation) from the Oracle E-Business Suiteserver (figure 1)

Through this growth restricting strategy, the subsequent result is that the confidentiality ofcertain types of printouts can be compromised. When the number of supported printers islimited, the printers are, by definition, physically further away from the people who need to printand open to all. In the case of secure or confidential information, such as payroll information,personnel benefit information or performance reviews, this increases the likelihood that theprintouts will be taken by unauthorized employeeseither mistakenly, intentionally, ormaliciously.

'( )* )+,-.*),/0-1 ,2- 3.4)*/5),/3* 6)* 7-6/7- ,3 -893(- ,2- 9./*,-.:( (,),/6 ;< )77.-((= >2/+- ,2/(

)++3?( ,2- (-.0-. ,3 9./*, ,3 ,2- 7-(/.-7 ,).4-, 9./*,-.1 /, /*6.-)(-( )7@/*/(,.),/0- ?3.A+3)7 ?2/+-

7-6.-)(/*4 30-.)++ (-6B./,C DE/4B.- !F= '66-9,)G+- E3. (3@-1 ./(A /@93(/*4 E3. @)*C=

Oracle Applications Server

with IP Address

[196.216.2.3 / Public

/

User requests

rintout

IP-capable

printer

InternetLAN

IP-capable

printer with exposedIP

address [192.216.2.52]

Atlanta user

LAN

San Francisco Atlanta

Figure 1 - Users cannot print to remote printersbecause of Network Address Translation or it is not

Figure 2 - Users can print to any printer; however,security may be compromised


7/10

HUNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

MAKING THE MOST OF THE SITUATION

Secure solutions are achievable though even in the most complex enterprise architecture.Assume, for a moment that a Company decides to address their organizational printing situationusing the configuration outlined above in Figure 2. The following is a recap of steps to be takenand issues to be resolved in order to complete the printing solution.

STEP 1: NETWORK ADMINISTRATORS MUST ASSIGN A PUBLIC IP ADDRESS FOR EACH

AND EVERY PRINTER IN THE ORGANIZATION. In a decentralized IT environment this canbe particularly challenging as remote administrators may delay in providing responses. Ofcourse, this is all predicated on the fact that that all the printers are IP capable. If they arenot, the organization must either abandon this approach and disappoint the usercommunity, take a financial write down on these unusable assets or spend considerablemoney purchasing new, IP-capable printers that meet the corporate needs and userdemands.

STEP 2: UNIX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS MUST SETUP EACH PRINTER IN THE UNIX

ENVIRONMENT. Once the network administrator locates and identifies each printer, the

UNIX administrator must acquire and install the latest UNIX print driver for each. Thechallenge of finding drivers for many different types of printers can be overwhelming andlaborious for this continual driver update exercise.

STEP 3: ORACLE E-BUSINESS SUITE ADMINISTRATORS MUST SETUP EACH PRINTER IN

ORACLE APPLICATIONS. Like the UNIX administrator, the Oracle E-Business Suiteadministrator must locate unique and specific initialization strings for every printer - achallenging task that has but a slim probability of success.

ANOTHER SCENARIO

An alternative to the scenario above is to convert all of the print jobs to PDF. This can be difficultto set up, and even then, when users run their reports, they will have to interactively view them

in PDF, and then wait while their report is spooled and printed. Printing direct to the desireddevice (which may be inches away) is no longer possible. While this may be acceptable to some,it will most likely not be acceptable to all. If a user does try to print a PDF report directly fromthe server to a printer, the output will be raw PDF, which effectively eliminates the ability to kickoff more than one printed report at a time (i.e., end-of-month reporting). The user must interactwith each and every report thereby negating the very timesavings and productivity enhancementthat was promised of the application software.

In most cases, these restrictions will be unwelcome by the user community as well as seniormanagement. In an effort to meet in the middle, administrators may opt to create one version ofa report as text only, that is, the default Oracle method which could go directly to a printer, andanother version of the same report as a PDF which could be viewed and then printed to a local,

desktop printer.

While this proposal may have merit, it does of course have technical and user ramifications.The entire reporting infrastructure must have a consistent naming convention that supportsboth report types so users know which report to select. Additionally, each report needs to becreated twice one for each output type. This doubles the concurrent report programmaintenance and leads to an increase in processing requirements and induces additionalmanual labor burden at a time when worker productivity was already under siege.


8/10

IUNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

SOLUTIONS FOR PRINTING AND THE OEBS

Each of the above scenarios describes the delicate art of negotiation and compromise underwhich IT and the user community generally agree to a printing solution, but one, which neitherparty is particularly excited about the result. When analyzed the core issue revolves aroundstriking a balance between administrative effort and user expectations. On the one hand, there

remains no shortage of work for administrators to make the Oracle E-Business Suite meet theperpetual list of functional enhancements without having to worry about printing. On the otherhand, most users have great computing at home and demand similar solutions at work. Havingto walk to the other side of the office or to another floor to retrieve a printout is neitheracceptable nor secure. More specifically, they desire the option to print directly to a printer or toview the output first, then print to their desktop printer.

The ideal solution means that users PCs will talk to the server, and bring reports to the local ordefault Windows printer regardless of the network topology, allowing for a print anywhere, printanytime solution.

COMPONENTS OF REAL SOLUTIONS

Though there are numerous workarounds, legitimate enterprise Oracle output managementsolutions:

Do not require a support person to visit each PC to install software Requires only a simple, one-time server-side install with minimal work for a DBA Utilizes a common printer naming schema for all users which refers to their local

default Windows printer, easing user training and support issues Permits users to start or schedule reports, select a printer and walk away, safe in the

knowledge that when they get back, the printout would be right there, safe and secure atthe printer of their choosing

Requires no involvement by the UNIX system administrator to setup or maintain.

UNITASK OUTPUT DIRECTORUnitask Output Director offers organizations using the Oracle E-Business Suite one solution forlowering the cost and effort associated with output management while meeting the demands ofthe user community. Output Director allows users to print to any printer within their network,increasing user productivity, user satisfaction and overall data security. Installed centrally bythe Oracle E-Business Suite administrator, Output Director requires no end-user interventionor administration. Once installed, Output Director allows users, regardless of location orconnectivity method, to print to any printer. Output Director offers support for users workingfrom home, remotely over the web or even in situations where users require specialtyprinters such as bar code printers.

Output Director also contains an enhanced enterprise printing security module to allowbusinesses to proactively address the issues that are unavoidable when dealing with hardcopies of sensitive data. For example, the Security Module allows administrators to controlwhere specific Oracle sensitive outputs such as checks are printed. The Security Moduleextends the E-Business Suite native security models ability to allow output security to beapplied using different permission levels. By extending the ability to assign security controls,Oracle administrators have additional flexibility to apply controls over individuals or groups, andcan minimize the setup time required to implement any necessary permissions or restrictions.


9/10

JUNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

Output Director Enterprise Enabled Configuration

BENEFITS OF OUTPUT DIRECTOR

PRINT SECURELY Utilizing this architecture, users can easily control which printer output isdirected to, ensuring confidential information such as salary information, will never be lyingaround in the print server room. The security module allows administrators to control wherespecific Oracle-sensitive outputs are printed when using local, direct, or Oracle configuredprinters and also control who prints these specific outputs.

SET IT AND FORGET IT With Output Director, an administrator performs a one-time, centralinstall of Output Director. Theres no need to visit each workstation and theres no userintervention Ever!

MAXIMIZE INVESTMENTWith Output Director organizations will maximize the investment theyhave made in printer hardware by expanding the utilization of available printers for users of theOracle E-Business Suite.

ZERO PRINTER IMPACT Output Director in no way limits users ability to print to the sameprinters they have always printed on. Moreover, Output Director in no way interferes withadministrators or users ability to add new printers to the Oracle E-Business Suiteenvironment.

SAVE TIME AND MONEY Output Director eliminates the need for administrators to setup andmaintain printers around the organization and possibly around the world. This allowsorganizations to reallocate this effort to projects that will generate real value to theorganization.

VERSION PROOF Output Director, like all products from Unitask, meets the most stringentcoding standards of the Oracle E-Business Suite. As a result, once installed, Output Directorrequires no administrator maintenance and will continue to operate during and after Oracle E-Business Suite patch application and version upgrades.


10/10

KLUNITASKBEST PRACTICES FOR PRINTER MANAGEMENT

ABOUT UNITASK

Unitask is committed to helping organizations implement, manage and run their Oracle E-Business Suite. Unitask creates, sells and supports software products based on experiencegained from over a decade of Oracle E-Business Suite implementation projects. Customers ofthe Oracle E-Business Suite around the world rely on Unitask products to eliminate

implementation and operational risk, improve the quality of the application and accelerate time-to-value. For more information, please visit www.unitask.com.

CONTACT US

Unitask Software1750 S. TelegraphSuite #107Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302

1-866-UNITASK

2011 Best Practices for Printer Management.docx

Documents

Transcript of 2011 Best Practices for Printer Management.docx