Parallels & ThinPrint: virtual workplace with seamless user experience

Parallels and ThinPrint deliver a virtual workplace with seamless user experience including Parallels printing (Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash)

If you‘re a Mac user or ever have been one, you probably know Parallels from their software that lets you use Windows on Macs. The current version is called Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac. If that‘s all you know from Parallels, I recommend you to have a look at their Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS). It provides easy, comprehensive desktop/application delivery that enables business and public-sector organizations to seamlessly integrate virtual Windows applications/desktops on nearly any device or operating system.

I first came across Parallels RAS at a ThinPrint customer site. It was a manufacturing customer in Berlin, who was using our solution in combination with Parallels since a few years already. So I‘m very happy that our technical consultants have teamed up and thoroughly tested the joint solution. While it is designed for businesses of all sizes, it has a particular sweet spot in medium business and government organizations.

Some examples of how Parallels RAS solution works hand in hand with ThinPrint functionalities:

• Centralized management from single pane of glass: Centralization of management with Parallels RAS’ straightforward wizards reduce the burden on IT admins who together with ThinPrint can also manage the printers from this centralized dashboard. Users are always assigned the correct printer and the same print dialogue is available for all.
• No single point of failure: Parallels RAS supports gateway and server redundancies to remove any single point of failure. It also checks the availability of the component before forwarding a connection, ensuring stable access to virtual workspace. ThinPrint adds high availability for print services. This significantly reduces support requests. So this is a great solution for Parallels printing.
• Mobile productivity: Support for any device from a laptop to a smartphone or tablet. With Parallels ApplificationTM technology, employees can use touch gestures of mobile devices (like swipe, drag, zoom) to interact with any remote Windows application. ThinPrint enables Parallels printing from any Parallels RAS provided application to printers from any device.
• Cloud ready performance: Together, Parallels and ThinPrint allow organizations to become a cloud-ready business on its own term in private, hybrid and public cloud environments, with support for Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, hyperconverged infrastructure from Nutanix or HPE and more.

Bottom line: Parallels RAS virtual desktops and apps together with ThinPrint print management lower the resource demand on IT infrastructure. Take a look at our technical solution brief about Parallels printing that tells you more about the technical insights of the joint solution and for possible formal partner announcements. In the meantime the good news is: Parallels RAS and ThinPrint Engine are tested together and work together well!