By Adam Hill on October 27, 2026
A printer RFP usually starts with the hardware: how many devices, how fast they print, how many trays they need, what the cost per page looks like, and how long the lease should run.
That made sense when the printer was the center of the decision.
Today, replacing 20, 100, or 500 printers can also lock in the print architecture behind them for years. A cloud-ready printer RFP should therefore specify how printing is managed, secured, deployed, and integrated, not just which hardware is being purchased.
Otherwise, the organization can select the right printers and accidentally inherit the wrong management model.
The RFP Is Really Choosing an Architecture
The most important questions in a modern printer RFP are often not about the printer at all. They are about what IT will still have to maintain once the new fleet is live.
Will every site need a Windows print server? Will endpoints still need manufacturer drivers? Can users and printers be assigned through the company directory? Can IT manage ten offices from one console? What happens when Windows Protected Print is enabled? Can existing specialty printers remain in service?
Those decisions shape the operating model long after the hardware specifications have been forgotten. That is why a cloud-ready RFP needs requirements for the management layer as well as the devices.
What Should a Cloud-Ready Printer RFP Say About Print Servers?
A cloud-ready printer RFP should require vendors to state whether any on-premises Windows print server or virtual machine is needed at any site, and how local printers connect to the cloud service. The answer shows what infrastructure IT will still maintain at every location after the new fleet is installed.
Do not ask only whether the solution is “cloud-based.” Ask whether any on-premises Windows server, virtual machine, or central print-server role is required at a site.
A useful requirement is:
Vendor shall state whether any on-premises Windows print server or virtual machine is required for normal printing at any deployment site and shall describe the connection method between local printers and the cloud service.
That wording forces a concrete answer.
A platform with a web console but a Windows print server behind every location is architecturally different from one that connects printers directly through a lightweight Hub or Connector.
Printer Driver Strategy Belongs in the RFP Too
Serverless printing and driverless printing are not the same thing.
A platform can remove the central print server while still installing and maintaining manufacturer-specific drivers on user devices or session hosts.
If endpoint simplification is one of the goals of the project, make the driver requirement explicit:
Vendor shall describe whether manufacturer-specific printer drivers are installed on end-user devices or virtual desktop session hosts and how print rendering is performed.
For ezeep, print jobs can be rendered in the cloud using a centrally maintained driver library, so manufacturer drivers do not need to be installed on user endpoints.
This is also relevant to Windows Protected Print, because WPP blocks legacy third-party printer drivers when enabled.
Windows Protected Print Belongs in the RFP
Windows Protected Print blocks legacy third-party printer drivers when it is enabled, so any solution that depends on those drivers is a risk. Ask every vendor to say, in writing, whether its current solution works with WPP enabled.
Vendor shall confirm that its solution operates with Windows Protected Print enabled and shall list any third-party printer drivers or components it requires on Windows endpoints.
ezeep’s setup is WPP ready.
Identity Should Decide Who Gets Which Printer
A 200-printer rollout should not create a 200-printer assignment project. For distributed environments, the RFP should ask how printer access follows users, groups, and locations.
For example:
Vendor shall support centralized printer assignment using existing identity and group information and shall describe how users receive the correct printers when they change location or group membership.
ezeep supports Microsoft Entra ID group synchronization on applicable plans and centralized printer assignment through its management console.
The procurement question is bigger than whether identity integration exists. It is whether the integration removes manual work once the environment begins changing.
What Should the RFP Require for Security and Data Handling?
This is where old hardware-focused RFP templates usually leave the largest gap. A cloud print platform processes document data, so the RFP should require explicit answers about the data path.
Useful language is:
Vendor shall state where print-job content is processed, how it is encrypted in transit and at rest, how long print data may be retained, and how jobs held for secure release are protected and deleted.
Also ask how local sites connect to the cloud and whether inbound firewall rules are required.
For certification claims, require the actual certificate and its scope. “Hosted on certified infrastructure” and “the software provider is certified” are different statements.
Multi-Site Deployment Should Not Scale Like On-Premises Infrastructure
A useful cloud architecture should make the tenth site easier to add than the first, not equally complicated.
Ask vendors to describe exactly what happens when a new office opens:
Vendor shall describe every component that must be installed or configured at a new location, whether on-site IT presence is required, and how printers at that site are added to centralized management.
ezeep can connect network and USB printers through the ezeep Hub, which removes the need for a dedicated print server or PC at a site. For sites that already have a Windows PC or print server, the ezeep Connector for Windows lets organizations keep using it.
The RFP should also require centralized reporting across sites rather than separate site-by-site administration.
VDI Printing Needs Its Own Requirement
If the organization uses Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Citrix, Omnissa Horizon, Remote Desktop Services, or another virtual desktop environment, do not leave VDI printing buried under a generic compatibility statement.
Ask directly:
Vendor shall confirm support for the virtual desktop platforms in use and shall state what software or printer drivers must be installed on session hosts.
The difference matters operationally. A solution that looks simple on physical Windows endpoints may create a very different maintenance model inside shared session hosts.
A Practical Cloud-Ready Printer RFP Checklist
The final RFP should cover at least:
- Print-server architecture: what infrastructure remains at each site
- Endpoint drivers: whether manufacturer drivers are installed locally
- Windows Protected Print: current compatibility and requirements
- Identity: printer assignment through users, groups, and locations
- Existing hardware: support for network, USB, legacy, and specialty printers
- Security: encryption, retention, authentication, and secure release
- Multi-site deployment: what a new location requires
- Reporting: centralized visibility across the fleet
- VDI: support for the actual virtual desktop platforms in use
- Commercial model: per-user, per-device, per-page, minimums, and renewal terms
That checklist does not replace the hardware specification.
It prevents the hardware specification from becoming the only part of the decision that was deliberately designed.
The Fleet Will Change Before the Contract Ends
Printer models will change. Offices will open and close. Employees will move. Windows printing will continue to evolve.
The management architecture has to survive all of that.
A modern printer RFP should still specify trays, finishing, speed, duty cycle and consumables. But the most consequential requirement may be the one that determines whether IT spends the next five years maintaining print infrastructure at every location, or managing the fleet as one service.
