EPC Group Celebrates 29 Years of Microsoft Consulting Excellence
EPC Group Turns 29 Years Old
Last updated: 2026 · Read time: ~4 minutes
EPC Group celebrates 29 years of Microsoft consulting in 2026. Founded in Houston, Texas in 1997 by Errin O'Connor, the firm has grown from early SharePoint and Exchange deployments to enterprise AI governance, Microsoft Copilot, and Azure cloud architecture for Fortune 500 and federal clients.
Key milestones
- 1997 — Founded in Houston, TX by Errin O'Connor.
- 2003 — Achieved Microsoft Gold Partner status (held continuously through 2022 — oldest in North America).
- 2008 — Errin O'Connor published first Microsoft Press bestseller.
- 2022 — Achieved core Microsoft Solutions Partner designations.
- 2023 — Launched AI governance and vCAIO (Virtual Chief AI Officer) practice.
- 2026 — 29 years. 10,000+ enterprise implementations. 4 consecutive G2 Leader awards.
29 years of Microsoft evolution
EPC Group's history mirrors the Microsoft enterprise platform itself. Each decade brought a new technology wave. EPC Group rode each one.
- Late 1990s: Windows NT, Exchange Server, early web applications.
- 2000s: SharePoint Portal Server, SQL Server BI, early Azure, four Microsoft Press books.
- 2010s: Office 365 cloud migrations, Power BI, Dynamics 365, Azure cloud architecture.
- 2020s: Microsoft Teams, Viva, Power Platform, Microsoft Fabric, and now AI governance and Microsoft Copilot.
What EPC Group does today
At 29 years, EPC Group covers the full Microsoft enterprise stack. Nine service lines — each with dedicated consulting teams.
- AI governance and Copilot — NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act, Copilot deployment, Azure OpenAI architecture.
- Azure cloud — landing zones, migrations, FinOps, multi-cloud architecture.
- Microsoft 365 and Teams — deployment, governance, Viva, and frontline worker solutions.
- Power BI and Fabric — dashboards, semantic models, Direct Lake, CoE programs.
- SharePoint Online — migrations, intranet modernization, Copilot grounding optimization.
- Power Platform — Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio agents.
- Dynamics 365 — Finance, Supply Chain, Business Central, Sales, Field Service.
- Compliance consulting — HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, CMMC, GDPR, FERPA.
- Managed services — 24/7 monitoring, managed Power BI, managed Azure.
The numbers at year 29
- 10,000+ enterprise implementations since 1997.
- 6,500+ SharePoint implementations.
- 1,500+ Power BI deployments.
- 500+ Microsoft Fabric projects.
- 70+ Fortune 500 clients.
- Offices: Houston (HQ), Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Kansas City, Washington DC.
- Core Microsoft Solutions Partner designations.
- G2 Leader — 4 consecutive quarters in Enterprise IT Consulting and BI Consulting.
Why legacy matters in AI
Microsoft platform decisions layer on top of choices made 20+ years ago. This is not abstract — it affects real client outcomes today.
Active Directory schema decisions from 2005 affect Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access design in 2026. SharePoint 2003 information architecture decisions affect Copilot grounding quality in 2026. Consultants without that history miss these dependencies.
EPC Group architects built the original environments. We know what was decided and why. That context is not available to firms that started after 2015.
Frequently asked questions
How old is EPC Group?
EPC Group was founded in 1997 in Houston, Texas. In 2026 the firm celebrated its 29th year of continuous Microsoft consulting — making it one of the oldest active Microsoft specialist firms in North America.
Who founded EPC Group?
Errin O'Connor founded EPC Group in 1997. He is the CEO and Chief AI Architect, a Microsoft MVP (Errin O'Connor, first awarded 2003), original SharePoint and Power BI Beta Team member, FedRAMP contributor, and author of four Microsoft Press bestselling books.
What does EPC Group specialize in?
EPC Group specializes in Microsoft enterprise consulting — AI governance, Microsoft Copilot, Azure cloud, Power BI and Fabric analytics, SharePoint, Teams, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and compliance consulting for HIPAA, FedRAMP, SOC 2, and CMMC.
What is EPC Group's Microsoft partner status?
EPC Group holds core Microsoft Solutions Partner designations (Data & AI, Modern Work, Infrastructure, Security, Digital & App Innovation, Business Applications). The firm was the oldest continuous Microsoft Gold Partner in North America from 2003 to 2022.
Work with a 29-year Microsoft consulting firm
Talk to an EPC Group architect about your Microsoft project. Call (888) 381-9725 or request a 30-minute discovery call.
Why Organizations Choose EPC Group
EPC Group is a Houston-based Microsoft consulting firm with 29 years of enterprise implementation experience and over 10,000 successful deployments across Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, SharePoint, Azure, Microsoft 365, and Copilot. We serve organizations across all industries including Fortune 500, federal agencies, healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing, energy, education, retail, technology, and global enterprises.
What sets EPC Group apart is our governance-first approach. Every engagement begins with a security and compliance assessment. Our team of senior architects brings hands-on delivery experience across HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, and CMMC environments. We own outcomes, not hours.
- Fixed-fee accelerators with predictable pricing and defined deliverables
- Senior architect engagement on every project, not rotating juniors
- Compliance-native delivery for regulated industries
- End-to-end coverage from strategy through 24/7 managed services
- 11,000+ enterprise engagements refined into repeatable, risk-controlled patterns
Call (888) 381-9725 or email contact@epcgroup.net for a free assessment.
Microsoft Strategy: 2026 Considerations for Epc Group Turns 29 Years Old
EPC Group 29-year Microsoft consulting heritage matters specifically because Microsoft platform decisions today are layered on top of 25 years of architectural choices: Active Directory schema decisions from 2005 affect Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access policy design in 2026; SharePoint 2003 information architecture decisions affect Copilot grounding quality in 2026. The firms that can navigate that depth (fewer than a dozen Microsoft Solutions Partners in North America) have a structural advantage on enterprise Microsoft migrations.
Microsoft Solutions Partner status (six designations: Data and AI, Modern Work, Infrastructure, Security, Digital and App Innovation, Business Applications) replaced the legacy Microsoft Gold Partner program in 2022. EPC Group held Gold Partner status from 2003 to 2022 (the oldest continuous Gold Partner in North America) and currently holds all six Solutions Partner designations; a credentialing footprint shared by fewer than 50 firms globally and typically used by Microsoft field teams as a vetting gate for enterprise Customer 0 nominations and named-account engagements.
Decision factors EPC Group evaluates
- Microsoft platform capability assessment
- Vendor consolidation analysis
- Compliance and governance posture review
- Enterprise architecture roadmap
- Cost optimization and licensing audit
For a tailored read on this topic in your specific tenant, contact EPC Group at contact@epcgroup.net or +1 (888) 381-9725. Engagement options at /pricing.