Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about EPC Group Microsoft consulting services. Don't see your question? Contact us or call (888) 381-9725.
About EPC Group
How long has EPC Group been in business?
EPC Group was founded in 1997 by Errin O'Connor. As of 2026, we have 29 years of continuous focus on enterprise Microsoft architecture. We held continuous Microsoft Gold Partner status from 2003 through 2022 and currently hold all six Microsoft Solutions Partner designations (Modern Work, Data & AI, Infrastructure, Security, Digital & App Innovation, Business Applications).
Where is EPC Group headquartered?
EPC Group is headquartered at 4900 Woodway Drive, Suite 830, Houston, TX 77056. We have local presence in Houston, Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Kansas City, MO, and Washington, DC. Most engagements are delivered remotely with on-site visits for kickoff, design workshops, and major milestones.
What industries does EPC Group serve?
EPC Group serves Fortune 500 enterprises and regulated mid-market organizations across healthcare (HIPAA), financial services (FINRA, SOC 2), government and federal contracting (FedRAMP, CMMC, FISMA), manufacturing, energy, retail, technology, and education. Our specialty is regulated industries where audit-defensible Microsoft platform configuration is non-negotiable.
Services & Pricing
What does EPC Group cost?
Engagement value typically runs $50,000 to $500,000 with most projects in the $150,000-$300,000 range. Smaller fixed-fee accelerators start at $25,000 (e.g. Power BI proof-of-concept, Copilot Readiness Assessment). Larger multi-year programs (FedRAMP authorization, full Salesforce → Dynamics 365 migration, enterprise SharePoint tenant-to-tenant migration) can run $500,000 to $2,000,000+. Most engagements are fixed-fee with measurable success criteria; T&M is available for ongoing managed services.
How does EPC Group differ from Avanade, Accenture, or Slalom?
Three differentiators. First, senior-architect-led delivery — engagements are owned by named senior architects (40-50% of project hours) instead of staffed primarily with junior consultants (Big-4 industry-typical 10-20% senior ratio). Second, fixed-fee preferred — most engagements are fixed-fee with success criteria, vs T&M which can run over budget. Third, 29 years of Microsoft consulting depth — many migrations have legacy Active Directory or SharePoint dependencies that require institutional knowledge of how Microsoft platform decisions interact across Dynamics 365, Power Platform, M365, and Azure. We are smaller than Avanade or Accenture but typically deliver 30-40% faster at 30-50% lower cost for US-led, compliance-heavy mid-market and Fortune 500 deployments.
Does EPC Group offer fixed-fee accelerators?
Yes — fixed-fee accelerators are our default engagement model. Common accelerator products include the Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment ($25,000-$50,000), the Power BI Center of Excellence Accelerator ($75,000-$150,000), the SharePoint Tenant-to-Tenant Migration Accelerator (sized by user count, $150,000-$450,000), and the AI Governance Framework Accelerator ($100,000-$300,000). Each accelerator includes scoped deliverables, fixed timeline, and a written success criteria sheet that gates final payment.
How long do engagements typically take?
Discovery and assessment engagements: 2-6 weeks. Implementation projects: 8-26 weeks depending on scope. Multi-year programs: 12-36 months in phased rollouts. Most engagements have a phase-1 go-live within 90-120 days of kickoff. Specific timelines vary by app family — Power BI deployments are typically 8-14 weeks, SharePoint migrations are 8-16 weeks, Dynamics 365 implementations are 12-26 weeks, and full Salesforce → Dynamics migrations are 16-26 weeks.
AI Governance & Copilot
What is a vCAIO and how does the engagement work?
vCAIO stands for Virtual Chief AI Officer — a fractional senior AI leadership engagement. EPC Group offers three tiers: Advisory ($5,000-$10,000 per month) for boards and mid-market executive sounding boards, Fractional ($15,000-$25,000 per month) for organizations actively standing up an AI program with governance authorship and vendor evaluation, and Transformation ($30,000-$50,000 per month) for enterprises rolling out Microsoft Copilot or Azure OpenAI at scale. The vCAIO is Errin O'Connor or one of three EPC Group senior architects with combined 65+ years of enterprise Microsoft and AI architecture experience.
How does EPC Group approach Microsoft Copilot deployment?
Every Copilot engagement begins with a Copilot Readiness Assessment focused on data governance, oversharing exposure, sensitivity-label coverage, Conditional Access policy gaps, and Microsoft Sentinel detection coverage. We do not assign Copilot licenses to production users until oversharing remediation is complete — enterprises that skip this work see 40-60% pilot abandonment within 90 days. Our typical Copilot rollout sequence: 30 days of governance preparation, 30 days of pilot with measured outcomes, 30 days of departmental rollout, 30 days of org-wide enablement.
How does EPC Group address EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF compliance?
We maintain a 47-control crosswalk between NIST AI RMF subcategories and Microsoft platform settings (Microsoft Purview, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Sentinel). For EU AI Act readiness, we provide Article 6 (high-risk AI system) inventory and risk classification, Article 10 (data governance) gap assessment, Article 11 (technical documentation) templating, Article 13 (transparency) configuration in Copilot Studio, and Article 14 (human oversight) workflow design. Enforcement begins August 2026 for high-risk and general-purpose AI systems.
Regulated Industries
How does EPC Group support HIPAA-regulated Microsoft 365 deployments?
HIPAA-compliant Microsoft 365 deployment requires a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Microsoft executed at tenant-creation time, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Microsoft Purview Information Protection with PHI-classified sensitivity labels, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps with anomaly detection, Audit (Premium) for 6-year audit log retention, and Customer Lockbox for support-access logging. Every healthcare engagement includes a HIPAA Security Rule control mapping, a written compliance posture assessment, and an Incident Response runbook scoped to HHS Office for Civil Rights breach notification timelines.
Does EPC Group support FedRAMP and government deployments?
Yes — federal architecture is one of our specialty areas, dating to Errin O'Connor's career as a NASA Lead Architect and his work on federal IT reform advisory teams. We deliver Microsoft 365 GCC and GCC High deployments, Azure Government Cloud rollouts, FedRAMP authorization support (typical commercial ATO leveraging Azure Gov drops to 9-13 months and $750K-$2M total vs the 14-22 month, $1.2M-$3M default), and CMMC Level 2 (110 NIST 800-171 controls) and Level 3 (134 controls) readiness for defense contractors and primes.
How does EPC Group handle FINRA-regulated broker-dealer Salesforce → Dynamics 365 migrations?
Broker-dealer Salesforce → Dynamics 365 migrations are our specialty. The process: Salesforce export and field mapping audit, Dataverse data model design with parity for Salesforce custom objects, parallel-run period with read-only Salesforce access, historical data migration with FINRA-required 7-year audit trail preservation, Salesforce flow → Power Automate conversion (typically 80-95% automated), integration cutover for Outlook tracking and marketing automation, and role-based training playbooks. Typical timeline for a 100-300 seat broker-dealer is 16-26 weeks at $150,000-$450,000.
How to Engage
How do I get started with EPC Group?
Start with a 30-minute discovery call. We discuss your current Microsoft platform priorities, evaluate fit, and outline next steps. No obligation, no sales pressure. Schedule at https://www.epcgroup.net/schedule, email contact@epcgroup.net, or call (888) 381-9725. Senior architects (not sales reps) take the discovery calls.
What does the discovery process look like?
Discovery typically runs 30-90 minutes for the initial call, then a 1-2 week assessment period if there is mutual fit. The assessment covers your current Microsoft 365 / Azure / Dynamics tenant configuration, governance posture, compliance requirements, in-flight initiatives, and target outcomes. Output is a written engagement scope with fixed-fee pricing, success criteria, timeline, and deliverable schedule. Most clients sign within 2-4 weeks of first call.
Does EPC Group sign mutual NDAs?
Yes — we routinely sign mutual NDAs before discovery for sensitive engagements. We can sign your NDA template or provide ours. Most enterprise clients prefer to sign before sharing tenant details, current vendor relationships, M&A plans, or compliance gap data.
Are EPC Group engagements remote, on-site, or hybrid?
Hybrid by default. Discovery, design, configuration, and most weekly check-ins are remote via Microsoft Teams. Kickoffs, major milestones, executive readouts, and complex on-prem migrations are on-site. We have local presence in Houston (HQ), Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Kansas City MO, and Washington DC, and we travel for engagements outside those metros at no extra cost (travel is included in fixed-fee scope for engagements over $100,000).
Still have questions?
30-minute discovery call. No obligation. Senior architect on the line — not a sales rep.