EPC Group Surpasses 70 Fortune 500 Microsoft Engagements: The Story Since 1997

70 Fortune 500 Microsoft Engagements: What That Number Means

Reaching seventy-plus Fortune 500 Microsoft enterprise engagements is a number. But the underlying story is what matters: senior-led Microsoft delivery since 1997, no offshoring, no junior bait-and-switch, and an unbroken focus on the Microsoft ecosystem.

This post documents what the milestone reflects, how EPC Group has earned Fortune 500 trust over nearly three decades, and what the engagement model behind it looks like today.

TL;DR — The 70+ Fortune 500 Milestone

EPC Group has crossed the milestone of more than 70 Fortune 500 Microsoft enterprise engagements. Notable public references include NASA, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, PepsiCo, and Northrop Grumman — with dozens of additional Fortune 500 organizations served under non-disclosure. The work spans Microsoft 365, Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Copilot, SharePoint, Azure, and Dynamics 365 deployments. The firm has been continuously Microsoft-focused since 1997. Was Microsoft Gold Partner (2000-2022) through the program's retirement, and currently holds core Microsoft Solutions Partner designations under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. Senior architect bench standard. US and Canada delivery only.

The Microsoft Ecosystem Focus Since 1997

EPC Group was founded in 1997 by Errin O'Connor. Throughout its history, the firm has remained exclusively focused on the Microsoft ecosystem — SharePoint from the 2001 beta team (Project Tahoe) onward, Power BI from the original beta team (Project Crescent), Microsoft 365 from the Office 365 launch era, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft Agent 365.

This exclusive focus is the differentiation in a market dominated by general system integrators (Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte) who deliver across all clouds and platforms. EPC Group's depth in Microsoft is the result of compounding specialization since 1997 — no Salesforce practice, no AWS-primary delivery, no Google Cloud focus. Microsoft only.

Notable Public Client References

Public Fortune 500 and federal client references include:

Federal Government and Defense — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), Northrop Grumman Corporation. Federal engagements operate under FedRAMP High, DoD IL4, and DoD IL5 environments.

Aviation and Travel — Aviation engagements require sustained Microsoft Cloud operations across global commercial scheduling and operations workflows.

Consumer Brands — PepsiCo. Consumer brand engagements include retail analytics, supply chain optimization, and global Microsoft 365 deployments across complex multi-country operations.

Financial Services — Federal Reserve Bank of New York (cited above). Additional financial services Fortune 500 references are served under non-disclosure.

The full client list includes dozens of additional Fortune 500 organizations under NDA — across healthcare systems, financial services, manufacturing, energy, technology, professional services, and retail.

The Recognition Record Since 1997

EPC Group's Fortune 500 engagement growth has been underwritten by sustained third-party recognition:

• Microsoft Solutions Partner with core current designations under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program — Data and AI (Azure), Digital and App Innovation (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Business Applications, Modern Work, and Security
• Microsoft Gold Partner from 2000 through the program's retirement in 2022
• G2 Leader in Business Intelligence Consulting with a 4.4/5 G2 rating across 15 verified reviews — consecutive G2 reporting periods
• Microsoft Press author — Founder Errin O'Connor is a four-time Microsoft Press best-selling author on Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft enterprise architecture

Founder Profile

Errin O'Connor founded EPC Group in 1997. His Microsoft ecosystem history predates the firm:

• Microsoft SharePoint original beta team — Project Tahoe, 2001. Errin was part of the original beta team that shaped SharePoint's enterprise positioning.
• Microsoft Power BI original beta team — Project Crescent. Errin participated in the early Power BI beta development that became the modern Microsoft Power BI we know today.
• NASA Lead Architect — Errin served as Lead Architect on the NASA Nebula Cloud project, where federal-grade cloud architecture and compliance attestation were table stakes.
• Microsoft Press author — four best-selling books covering Microsoft SharePoint inside-out (2007 and 2011), SharePoint 2013 Field Guide (2014), and Microsoft Power BI Dashboards Step by Step (Microsoft Press, 2018).
• Coined the SharePoint "Swiss Army knife" framing — first publicly published in Infonomics magazine (AIIM, January/February 2009), the framing defined how enterprise customers thought about SharePoint adoption for the next decade.

Senior-Architect Bench Standard

The Fortune 500 engagement growth is operationalized through EPC Group's senior-architect bench standard — every engagement is led by a Microsoft architect with a minimum of 10 years of Microsoft enterprise consulting experience. The named senior architect:

• Appears in every Statement of Work
• Attends every steering committee meeting
• Signs the architecture decision records
• Remains accountable through the operational run state

The standard is documented and operationalized via the EPC Group Engagement Operating Model — a published seven-phase project management methodology (Discover, Architect, Plan, Build, Validate, Deploy, Run) with named artifacts at every phase. See /engagement-model for the full published methodology.

The Current Engagement Pipeline

Current EPC Group Fortune 500 engagement areas reflect the technologies driving 2026 enterprise Microsoft demand:

Microsoft 365 Copilot Enterprise Rollouts — full lifecycle from readiness assessment through governance deployment through adoption operationalization. EPC Group has shipped 200+ Copilot deployments since the platform's 2024 launch. Industry-specific overlays for healthcare HIPAA, financial services FINRA, federal FedRAMP, and defense CMMC.

Multi-Tenant Microsoft 365 Consolidation following M&A — EPC Group's engagement load on M&A scenarios has grown materially in 2025-2026 as private equity activity drove multiple acquisitions per portfolio company. Typical scope: 3+ Microsoft 365 tenants consolidated to 1 within 12-18 months of close.

Microsoft 365 E7 + Microsoft Agent 365 Deployment — the May 1, 2026 launch of M365 E7 bundle and Microsoft Agent 365 created a substantial wave of license consolidation and governance modernization engagements. EPC Group has been the consulting partner of choice for enterprises locking in the CSP promo pricing ($84.15/user/mo through Dec 31, 2026).

Microsoft Fabric F-SKU Implementation and Power BI Premium Migration — Power BI Premium P1/P2/P3 SKUs are being phased out for new customers. F-SKU (F64+) has become the modern enterprise standard. EPC Group ships Premium-to-Fabric migration programs.

Microsoft Purview Information Protection Operationalization — sensitivity label deployment, autolabeling for regulated content, DLP for Copilot, Communication Compliance for prompt scanning. Required prerequisite for Copilot rollout.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and Defender XDR Deployment — Microsoft has closed the historical detection gap with CrowdStrike. EPC Group has shipped Defender XDR + Sentinel SIEM bundle deployments replacing CrowdStrike + Splunk at 30-40% of mid-market enterprises.

Microsoft Entra ID Zero Trust Architecture — Global Secure Access for mobile workforce (including iOS and iPadOS, GA May 2026), passkey deployment for phishing-resistant authentication, Conditional Access policy modernization, AI Gateway protection.

The Cumulative Microsoft Implementation Record

EPC Group's Fortune 500 engagements are part of a broader Microsoft implementation record:

• Thousands of Microsoft implementations across SharePoint, Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Purview, and Microsoft Copilot
• 6,500+ SharePoint deployments since SharePoint 2003
• 1,500+ Power BI implementations since Power BI's launch
• Microsoft Fabric implementations at enterprise scale since Fabric GA
• 200+ Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments since the platform launched in 2024

The cumulative record reflects sustained Microsoft ecosystem specialization that competitors with broader portfolios cannot match.

Remote-First Delivery

EPC Group delivers Microsoft consulting remote-first from the firm's North American consulting bench, with optional on-site executive engagement sessions across the United States and Canada. No offshored delivery on regulated-industry engagements. The US and Canada delivery scope is intentional — clearance requirements for federal and DIB engagements often require US person status, and regulated industries weight delivery-location considerations heavily in vendor selection.

Why Fortune 500 Buyers Choose EPC Group

Fortune 500 buyer evaluation patterns EPC Group has observed since 1997:

1. Microsoft ecosystem depth. Buyers want a Microsoft specialist, not a generalist with a Microsoft practice.
2. Senior accountability. The architect who designs the platform should also be the architect who deploys it.
3. Named methodology. Published delivery standard with named artifacts > custom case-by-case approach.
4. Regulated-industry expertise. Healthcare, financial services, federal, defense overlays available as table stakes.
5. Track record of recognition. Microsoft Solutions Partner all six designations + G2 Leader across consecutive periods + Microsoft Press author = stacked credibility.
6. Real Fortune 500 references. NASA, FRBNY, PepsiCo, Northrop Grumman serve as evaluation anchors.
7. US/CA delivery. Predictable timezone alignment, no offshoring concerns, clearance-eligible staff.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does EPC Group differentiate from Avanade or Accenture for Fortune 500 work?
A: Avanade (Accenture + Microsoft joint venture) and Accenture deliver at global scale with mixed senior + junior teams and significant offshoring. EPC Group delivers US/CA-only with senior architects only. Smaller team means more senior-architect time per engagement. For regulated industries specifically, the smaller-senior-only model produces higher governance fidelity.

Q: What is the typical engagement size for Fortune 500 clients?
A: Scope varies. Smaller engagements are a Consulting Block 40 or Block 80 on a single workload. Mid-size engagements are multi-phase and multi-workload. The largest enterprise engagements are multi-year, multi-tenant, full-transformation programs.

Q: Are all 70+ Fortune 500 engagements active?
A: No. The number reflects cumulative Fortune 500 engagements since 1997. Active engagement count is a subset. Many clients have engaged EPC Group across multiple programs over the firm's history since 1997.

Q: Does EPC Group work outside Fortune 500?
A: Yes. The firm serves Fortune 500, federal agencies, healthcare systems, financial institutions, government, manufacturing, energy, education, retail, technology, and global enterprises. The 70+ Fortune 500 number is one of several scale indicators. The Mid-Market Microsoft Fixed-Fee Catalog (see /blog/mid-market-microsoft-fixed-fee-catalog-15-packages-senior-led-2026) addresses mid-market scope specifically.

Q: What about international scope?
A: EPC Group delivers United States and Canada-only as primary scope. Multi-country Fortune 500 engagements with US/CA primary operations are supported. Engagements primarily based outside US/CA are not in EPC Group's scope.

Q: How is the firm's Microsoft Solutions Partner status different from Microsoft Gold Partner?
A: Microsoft retired the Gold Partner program on September 30, 2022. The replacement is the Microsoft Solutions Partner program under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. EPC Group holds core Microsoft Solutions Partner designations.

Q: What about the Engagement Operating Model methodology?
A: The EPC Engagement Operating Model is the published seven-phase project management methodology (Discover, Architect, Plan, Build, Validate, Deploy, Run) that operationalizes the senior-architect bench standard. Every Fortune 500 engagement runs through the methodology. See /engagement-model for the full published specification.

Q: How do we engage EPC Group?
A: Schedule a 30-minute discovery call at /contact. We assess fit, complexity, and scope. Engagements typically start with a Consulting Block 40 or Block 80 for initial scope validation, then expand to multi-phase programs as relationships develop.

Q: Why EPC Group?
A: Microsoft consulting since 1997 + 70+ Fortune 500 engagements + thousands of Microsoft implementations + Microsoft Solutions Partner core current designations + G2 Leader across consecutive periods + Microsoft Press author + NASA Lead Architect + Microsoft SharePoint and Power BI beta team founding-member heritage.

Next Steps

• Engagement Operating Model: /engagement-model
• verified reviews across G2, Clutch, Facebook, TrustAnalytica: /reviews
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Consulting: /services/microsoft-copilot
• Microsoft Fabric Consulting: /services/fabric-consulting
• Power BI Consulting: /services/power-bi-consulting
• Industry verticals: /industries
• Schedule discovery: /contact · (888) 381-9725