In today’s hybrid work environment, securing print workflows is as critical as securing digital assets. The combination of HP Authentication Manager and Microsoft Universal Print delivers a cloud-native print management solution that provides seamless integration with Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure Active Directory), ensuring that modern authentication and print security policies are enforced consistently across the organization.

Here’s how the solution works:

1. Pull Print: Users send their print jobs to a secure queue via Universal Print and authenticate at the printer using their preferred method (smartphone, card, biometric, etc.). HP Authentication Manager interfaces directly with Microsoft Entra, applying conditional access policies to ensure compliance. Only after successful authentication can the user release the print job.
2. Secure Print: For more sensitive documents, MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) can be enforced. This means that before the job is released, the user must verify their identity via Microsoft Authenticator or a similar method, providing an additional layer of security to prevent unauthorized access to confidential information.

Modern Authentication and Security with Microsoft Entra

At the heart of this solution is HP Authentication Manager, which directly integrates with Microsoft Entra ID to leverage the organization’s existing identity and access management infrastructure. This integration ensures that user authentication and print access are tightly controlled, governed by the same identity management and security policies that protect other business-critical applications.

With Microsoft Entra, admins can define detailed security policies for different users, groups, or departments. For example:

• Conditional Access Policies

• Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC)

• Compliance Policies and device health checks, enforced by Microsoft Intune

Key Features and Benefits

• Auto Registration via MOC Settings – Large Fleet, Save Time

By leveraging the HP Command Centre Microsoft Office Connector (MOC) settings, administrators can perform automatic registration of devices across the network, significantly reducing the setup time for large deployments.

HP Authentication Manager offers secure release functionality directly at the printer console, providing a secure and convenient way for users to retrieve their print jobs. Users have the flexibility to release documents either with or without Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), depending on organizational security requirements. This adaptable approach enables enhanced security for sensitive environments while maintaining ease of access for lower-risk areas.

HP printers, with Authentication Manager and Universal Print, can now operate both Secure Print and Direct Print alongside Pull Print functionality. This dual capability allows users to choose between immediate direct printing or secure print release from any enabled device, enhancing flexibility and meeting diverse workflow requirements.