Trace3 expands the realm of clients’ possibilities with Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Copilot

Powering secure, client-centric innovation

Technology consultancy Trace3 serves enterprises across the US by helping them take advantage of innovative technologies to solve unique challenges. The company offers a vast portfolio of technology consulting services that help clients run, grow, and transform their businesses. By working with Trace3, many clients greatly accelerate their journey from a startup to a mature organization that makes a lasting mark in their industries. Some of today’s most renowned and innovative brands in cybersecurity, storage technology, and other disciplines evolved in collaboration with Trace3.

Trace3 team members who were not already using Windows 11 Pro simply upgraded their computers when the company decided to standardize on the latest version of Windows. The smooth Windows 11 Pro deployment is characteristic of an organization that thrives at the leading edge of technology. Today, more than 1,250 Trace3 employees rely on Windows 11 Pro. Derek Smith, Practice Director for Azure at Trace3, explains, “The enhanced security features of Windows 11 Pro and many other capabilities of the operating system are a great fit for us at Trace3, where we are innovation-driven and also highly security conscious. Company-wide, Windows 11 Pro adoption has been very successful, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.”

Highly usable technology with appealing design

Smith cohosts the Security without Borders podcast, hosts the Cloud is Calling on YouTube, and has helped thousands of IT professionals level up their skills in working with Microsoft Azure, Azure DevOps, cloud security, and other technologies. He relies on a Surface Laptop Studio 2 running Windows 11 Pro for his frequent presentations at large industry events. “When people see somebody use Windows 11 Pro successfully in front of a big audience, it gives them confidence and sparks their ideas for what they could accomplish with it in their organizations,” he says.

When the pandemic started, Trace3 encouraged its employees to work from anywhere. The company has been running on a hybrid model since then and plans on letting people decide where and how they best serve clients and accomplish their tasks in the future. “Windows 11 Pro supports our work-from-anywhere team very well,” says Smith. “Team members in all kinds of roles work effectively at Trace3 offices, at home, or wherever else. The operating system flawlessly accommodates multiple monitors and other peripherals that Trace3 employees use. And with seamless redocking, they can instantly have their laptops ready for productive work in their preferred workplace setup.” In collaborative situations, employees are making increasingly intense use of Microsoft Power BI integrations and Whiteboard in Teams.

For Smith and other Windows 11 Pro users at Trace3, the design and usability of the operating system enhance the work experience. “People love the aesthetic appeal and layout of Windows 11 Pro,” Smith comments. “Placing the start button in the center of the taskbar makes apps more easily available, and we also received lots of positive feedback on the taskbar customization capabilities. The multi-desktop feature has been a boon, especially for our engineers. Plus, all the integrations with solutions like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams make it a lot easier to get work done and collaborate more naturally.”

Gaining efficiencies with Copilot

With Windows 11 Pro, Microsoft Copilot became available to Trace3 employees. Today, Smith and his colleagues use Copilot for a broad range of tasks in addition to basic searching for information. He describes, “I rely on Microsoft Copilot for streamlining many different tasks. It provides summaries of how Trace3 has worked with various clients, gives me highlights of Teams meetings and long email chains, and writes first drafts for me. This saves me a lot of time, especially as Copilot quickly learned how I like to communicate and write.”

Other Trace3 team members are putting Copilot to work to simplify recruiting. Instead of taking up to three weeks to plow through résumés, HR managers let Copilot provide an initial assessment, which allows them to review submissions quickly and respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks. In sales processes, Trace3 consultants are going to rely extensively on Copilot for Microsoft 365 to help them make a difference for clients. Team members also explore how they can best embed Copilot into Trace3 applications. They are already providing guidance to help clients work with Copilot, including, for example, how to make effective use of Copilot suggestions for DAX Query View in Power BI.

AI requires sound data governance and security

Smith suggests that people apply their personal perspective to Copilot. “Think about the repetitive tasks you need to perform,” he recommends. “See where Copilot can give you time back in your day by performing routine chores. It can make a huge difference in silencing noise and distractions and helping you do deep work.”

Organizations deploying Copilot or other AI technology for their entire workforce need to be mindful of the potential security and compliance implications of doing so. “Your AI journey should start with data governance and security,” says Smith. “Make sure you have the right guardrails in place before you activate Copilot across the organization so that you can prevent the solution and its users from accessing and disclosing sensitive information that should not be available to them.”

Immediate boosts for security and productivity

Trace3 consultants find that many technology users in client organizations are not fully aware of the advanced security capabilities of Windows 11 Pro, such as the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0. Smith explains, “I love that Microsoft has found a way to apply its security innovations to endpoints. Security features like the ability to isolate the Windows kernel from potential intrusions or threats with TPM first appeared on PCs as well as with the Xbox operating system. Many users first benefited from them as gamers before they experienced them in their work environments.”

For the Trace3 IT team, out-of-the-box security capabilities in Windows 11 Pro—such as memory execution isolation or the ability to structure identity security—have been beneficial in augmenting the organization’s security posture. For employees, multifactor authentication, Windows Hello, and other data and identity protection features make it easier to use technology securely without worrying about threats or being distracted by security measures. “Windows 11 Pro is a very robust and extremely secure operating system,” Smith comments. “It’s rare that our users find malicious code or a virus on their devices.”

Seamless endpoint and cloud management

Following broad Windows 11 Pro adoption at Trace3, the IT team transitioned from another tool to Microsoft Intune for managing endpoint devices. Smith explains, “Intune is our standard for endpoint management. The combination of the security features of Windows 11 Pro with using Intune to enforce policies across the organization has made it easier for IT to help ensure strong security and safeguard our digital assets.”

While Trace3 engages with clients on all leading cloud platforms, it runs its own processes on Azure. Windows 11 Pro works seamlessly with Microsoft Entra ID, formerly known as Azure Active Directory. As with all technological capabilities that Trace3 proposes for clients’ businesses, the organization’s Azure experts have thoroughly tested the interoperability of Windows 11 Pro and Azure. Says Smith, “It’s a significant advantage to be able to access and share Azure files mounted locally in Windows 11 Pro. We have helped several clients use this extremely reliable integration to their advantage.”

Advancing AI use cases to empower clients and team members

The next big step in enabling Trace3 team members to thrive will be the broader use of Microsoft Copilot. “I’m personally most excited to see what collaborations will be like with Copilot embedded in Teams,” Smith says. For both Trace3 and its clients, AI will be a key aspect of the future of business and technology. “AI will be a core technology in every organization, and we will all need to become ‘AI bilingual’ and treat it as another language,” he emphasizes. “At Trace3, everybody is going to have a deep understanding of the nuances and capabilities that AI contributes. We’re helping our clients become AI-proficient in the same way so that we can all function successfully in the AI-infused world in which we will live.”