The Factors & Benefits to Consider for Cloud-Enabled Labeling

The Factors & Benefits to Consider for Cloud-Enabled Labeling

BY: CASEY SCIANO / DATE: 16/02/2023 / TOPICS: PRODUCTION, ENTERPRISE LABEL MANAGEMENT, CLOUD LABELING

The manufacturing industry is adapting cloud technology to protect business continuity, reduce IT overhead, and improve productivity, efficiency, and autonomy. According to Edge Delta, over 90% of companies worldwide already use cloud services. The number of cloud computing users will grow as the years go on.

Having your labeling software hosted via cloud technology allows print users to access a simple label printing interface while removing the burden of IT maintenance, such as server management, software upgrades, and local installations.

Learn more about cloud-enabled labeling

This blog will cover the differences in cloud services, the customer environments we frequently see leveraging cloud technology for enterprise labeling, and the benefits of cloud-enabled labeling.

Differences between private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud & SaaS

If your IT strategy focuses on cloud solutions or you want to avoid the hassle of maintaining and updating systems, using cloud technology might be a good fit for your labeling needs. The cloud can mean different things for labeling—like printing labels using cloud data or hosting your label management software on a cloud server.

When people say cloud, the first thing we help them understand is the difference between public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and SaaS (software as a service).

• Private cloud: A private cloud is a service fully controlled by a single organization and not shared with others. The private cloud can be physically located at your organization’s on-site datacenter or hosted by a third-party service provider. But in a private cloud, the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and the hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization.
• Public cloud: A public cloud is a subscription service offered to all customers who want similar services. Cloud servers and storage are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider and delivered over the internet. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are examples of public clouds.
• Hybrid cloud: A hybrid cloud is a type of cloud computing that combines on-premises infrastructure – or a private cloud – with a public cloud. Hybrid clouds allow data and applications to move between the two environments. This is one strategy to migrate to the cloud gradually.
• SaaS: SaaS allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the internet. With SaaS, cloud providers host and manage the software application and underlying infrastructure, and handle any maintenance, like software upgrades.

Many of our large enterprise clients use TEKLYNX CENTRAL label management solution on a private cloud server with CODESOFT barcode label design software installed locally. Or sometimes, CODESOFT is also on a private cloud and label design users leverage RDP (remote desktop protocol) to access it. This enables secure label printing anywhere in the world. We also see people who integrate CODESOFT with cloud-based data source, like SAP HANA, to use data from the cloud on CODESOFT label templates. 

It’s hard to know what’s best for your environment without discussing all the factors and assessing your current labeling processes, which is why we’re here to help. Lean on your technology partners to help determine your ideal cloud-enabled labeling solution based on your environment and goals.

Things to consider before you migrate labeling to the cloud

Since there’s no one type of cloud-enabled labeling that’s right for everyone, how do you know if leveraging the cloud is right for your labeling environment? These scenarios are common use cases where a company could benefit from cloud-enabled labeling.

If you want to enable label printing for 10+ locations outside of your network. A browser-based label printing interface is interface is ideal. It helps companies standardize label printing at multiple locations, even if they’re not on the same network. Instead of installing labeling software on every workstation, browser-based printing lets you manage one or more web page label printing interfaces from one place, securely reaching users at all locations. 

If you have contract manufacturers and suppliers. Your enterprise labeling software can be leveraged outside of your business by allowing contract manufacturers and suppliers to print accurate labels via a customized browser-based label printing interface. With contract manufacturers and suppliers, the value-add is taking away their ability to print incorrect labels. And you can quickly deploy label printing to contract manufacturers and suppliers, while still managing the process centrally.

If you have a small IT department. Deploying your label printing system in the cloud takes the burden off internal resources. Centralized label management controls help system administrators coordinate licensing. System-wide settings can be defined in a single location and rolled out across your entire global organization. Browser-based access eliminates the need for individual workstation installations.

There are some barriers to cloud-enabled labeling, including security, reliability, and compliance. With the development of technology, cloud solutions have improved their security, but the cloud is not 100% reliable or the best fit for some manufacturers – cloud servers go down, internet connections fail, and outages occur. And for highly regulated industries, there may be regulations that impact the use of cloud technology. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) doesn’t prohibit the storage of protected health information in the cloud, but it does require certain privacy and security protections be in place to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

Now, let’s get into the business benefits.

Business benefits of cloud-enabled labeling

One of the biggest advantages of using the cloud for business continuity is that label data can be accessed from anywhere. This helps minimize downtime of critical business functions in the event of an outage, since employees can access data from virtually anywhere. Also, a reliable cloud service provider gives companies many ways to avoid data loss, including built-in redundancy, failover, backup, automatic logging, and monitoring – allowing for shorter recovery time compared with on-premises alternatives.

As a business, your main objective is to make a profit, and minimizing IT expenses helps your bottom line. With cloud-enabled labeling, you can skip the costs of buying or updating servers and hardware for your own data center. You also reduce the need for IT staff to manage your servers and lower the electricity costs of running an on-site server. If cutting IT expenses is your main goal, you can use a cloud-enabled labeling solution or cloud server, which TEKLYNX helps manage. 

With cloud technology, you no longer need to purchase on-site systems, hardware, or individual software licenses, freeing up resources for other projects. If you're considering moving your labeling to the cloud, reach out to us. We’ll help you find the best software and hosting options for your business.

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