Windows 11 Pro fuels growth and breakthrough technology at Techspace

A business built to power innovation

Techspace makes it its mission to help technology innovators and pioneers grow and thrive. The company provides these organizations with workspaces, meeting rooms, and event spaces as well as networking, leadership programs and IT infrastructure. During more than a decade in business, Techspace has created a vibrant community of more than 3,500 members and over 75 companies that rely on its spaces and services.

To the seven current Techspace sites in London and Berlin, the company is looking at adding locations in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Munich, and Paris in coming years. Damien Ponweera, Finance Director at Techspace, explains, “We empower companies to scale their operations in our flexible workspace. Whatever your requirements are for technology infrastructure and space, we’ve got the solution ready to go on the day you arrive.”

Smooth transition to stronger decision enablement

The Techspace finance team provides company executives with contractual, financial, occupancy, and trading reporting that allows them to make the best decisions for moving the business forward. Finance managers use Microsoft Power BI to process and present information. “We aim to produce our management reporting and provide analytics in a rapid, robust, and easy manner,” says Ponweera. “We find that Power BI provides the best set of tools for us to deliver intelligence to the executive team.”

When using Apple devices, finance managers could only access Power BI only through a browser. They were able to use Power BI capabilities but had to rely on IT assistance and time-consuming workarounds to work with data from Microsoft Excel or the company’s accounting software. After consulting with the IT team, Ponweera and his colleagues decided to switch to Dell laptops running on the Windows 11 Pro operating system. “We pulled our new Windows 11 Pro laptops out of their boxes, logged on, set them up, and began working immediately,” Ponweera describes. “The transition was easy and the IT team didn’t have to get involved.”

Easier app access with enhanced security

Techspace required the finance team to adopt two-factor authentication to augment the security of the company’s financial information and intellectual property. Today, finance team members use the Microsoft Authenticator app on their smartphones to quickly sign in to their accounts with two-step verification that combines one-time passcodes and push approvals. Ponweera advises, “Make sure you set up the Authenticator app correctly with all the information it needs and move authentication completely to the Microsoft tool. It’s the simplest way to go.”

Gaining data insight while reducing costs

After Techspace finance managers downloaded the Power BI app to their Windows 11 Pro laptops, they no longer need to navigate browser tabs to work with it. “We found that using a native Microsoft operating system and hardware was much more suitable for our purposes,” says Ponweera. “Microsoft has a huge advantage in the area of business analytics. If you want to get the best results from using Power BI, it only makes sense to align your hardware and software.”

At Techspace, Power BI connects directly to Excel, and an integration software tool enables real-time data exchanges between Power BI and the accounting software. Ponweera says, “Now, without the workarounds we had to use to bring data into Power BI, reporting by the finance team has become so much easier. From authenticating ourselves to accessing information to sharing files, all our activities are simpler in Windows 11 Pro.”

Having left behind inefficient past practices, Techspace finance managers save time and expenses with their Windows 11 Pro devices, which offer streamlined authentication in addition to direct access to Power BI and business data. Ponweera says, “Because of more efficient use of our time in the Windows 11 Pro environment, without the friction and cost of workarounds we no longer need, we save close to £200 [approx. US$250] every month.”

Three clicks to transparency

When Techspace executives assess the health of the company, they now can review an interactive Power BI dashboard created by the finance team. There, they can see up-to-the-moment information instead of reading static reports to understand occupancy rates, financial performance, and other dimensions of the business. If they want more detail, they can delve into the layers of information and surface it on their screens. “With Power BI, it takes me three clicks to see information that would take me at least 25 minutes to retrieve from our business systems,” notes Ponweera. 

After almost a year of using Power BI on Windows 11 Pro, finance managers are still finding out what more they can accomplish with its capabilities. “We’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do with Power BI, because it’s so powerful,” Ponweera adds. “As we become more familiar with what it’s capable of, we’ll be able to do more and more with the datasets from our operations.”

Growing on a Windows 11 Pro foundation

Now that the finance team has explored and showcased the advantages of Windows 11 Pro, Techspace may also provide Windows laptops to the interior design group and the IT organization. In addition, Ponweera expects that the finance team will double in size in the next 36 months. It will be helpful for Techspace to offer working in a Windows 11 Pro environment and using Power BI as it looks to recruit employees. “We’re in a war for talent,” Ponweera explains. “By offering best-in-class technology like Windows 11 Pro, we become an attractive employer for finance talent, enabling new team members to be productive and grow their skills. It’s uncommon to be able to learn Power BI in a small organization, and in a large company you probably would not be involved in developing solutions on the platform.”

For the foreseeable future, Windows 11 Pro software and devices will be part of the finance team’s journey at Techspace. Says Ponweera, “We have ambitious goals for expanding across Europe and elsewhere. These simple Windows 11 Pro systems make it possible for us to scale and expand into multiple markets.”