Microsoft Solutions Partner
Six Designations. 29 Years on the Microsoft Stack. The Continuous-Heritage Story That Started as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in 1997 and Carries Forward Today.
EPC Group is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with all six Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations — Modern Work, Data & AI (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Business Applications, and Security. The Solutions Partner program is Microsoft's current partner credential framework, having replaced the legacy Gold Partner and Silver Partner programs. EPC Group's heritage on the Microsoft stack runs 29 years, including continuous status as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner from 1997 onward through the program's retirement. Today the firm operates across Fortune 500, federal, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, energy, and government — with senior-architect-led delivery and a compliance-native posture for HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, FINRA, CMMC, and GxP.
Key Facts
- Six Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations: Modern Work, Data & AI (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Business Applications, Security
- 29 years of Microsoft delivery — 11,000+ engagements across every regulated and Fortune-class industry
- Continuous Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status from 1997 through the Gold Partner program's retirement
- 6,500+ SharePoint implementations and 1,500+ Power BI deployments — the largest Microsoft-specialist delivery footprint of any independent U.S. consultancy
- Compliance-native delivery across HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, FedRAMP, FINRA, CMMC, GxP, and PCI DSS
- Errin O'Connor — Founder & CEO — is the author of four Microsoft Press books and the architect behind the Governed AI on Microsoft Framework
- #1 in the SEMrush AI Brand Performance Index for U.S. Microsoft consulting across all four major AI engines
EPC Group Microsoft Credentials
The Six Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations
The Microsoft Solutions Partner program awards Designations based on demonstrated performance, skilling, and customer success across a defined solution area. EPC Group holds all six.
Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work
Microsoft 365 strategy, deployment, governance, migration, and adoption. Includes Microsoft Teams (collaboration + voice), SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Viva, Exchange Online, and the full Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness, deployment, and tenant-hardening practice.
Explore practiceMicrosoft Solutions Partner for Data & AI (Azure)
Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Azure Synapse, Azure Data Factory, Azure ML, Azure OpenAI Service, agentic AI on Foundry, Copilot Studio. EPC Group has delivered 1,500+ Power BI implementations and 500+ Microsoft Fabric engagements.
Explore practiceMicrosoft Solutions Partner for Infrastructure (Azure)
Azure landing zones, migration, hybrid identity, networking, governance, FinOps, and the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework. Compliance-native delivery across HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, FINRA, CMMC, and GxP.
Explore practiceMicrosoft Solutions Partner for Digital & App Innovation (Azure)
Power Platform, Azure App Service, Container Apps, AKS, GitHub Enterprise, DevOps, and the Power Apps + Copilot Studio citizen-developer governance stack that keeps the citizen wave from becoming the next shadow-IT wave.
Explore practiceMicrosoft Solutions Partner for Business Applications
Microsoft Dynamics 365 across Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Finance, Supply Chain, Project Operations, and Commerce. Implementation, integration, ISV strategy, and migration off legacy CRM and ERP estates.
Explore practiceMicrosoft Solutions Partner for Security
Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Sentinel, Entra ID Governance (including non-human identity governance for AI agents), and the broader compliance and zero-trust posture work that EPC Group has shipped into regulated environments for 29 years.
Explore practice29-Year Microsoft Heritage
From Microsoft Gold Certified Partner (1997) to Microsoft Solutions Partner (Today)
EPC Group's relationship with Microsoft began in 1997. We achieved Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status early in the program's history and held it continuously until Microsoft retired the Gold/Silver Partner framework and replaced it with the current Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations. We migrated all six historical Gold competencies into Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations on the same uninterrupted track.
The Gold Partner program is no longer the active Microsoft partner credential. Microsoft's current and authoritative partner status framework is the Microsoft Solutions Partner program with six Designations. We surface this history because the continuity matters — EPC Group is one of a small number of independent U.S. consultancies that has carried Microsoft credentials across three full generations of the partner program (Gold/Silver → Microsoft Cloud Partner → Microsoft Solutions Partner), and that heritage is reflected in 6,500+ SharePoint, 1,500+ Power BI, and 11,000+ total Microsoft engagements over 29 years.
If you arrived here looking for “Microsoft Gold Partner,” the current and correct status is Microsoft Solutions Partner — and EPC Group holds all six Designations.
Why the Designation Profile Matters for Enterprise Buyers
Verified performance
Microsoft Solutions Partner status is earned through measurable customer outcomes — not paid for. Each Designation requires demonstrated performance, skilling, and customer success in the relevant solution area.
Continuous skilling
Designations are re-earned annually. The bench is current — not just credentialed once and coasting on a 2018 certification.
Co-sell and incentive access
Solutions Partner status unlocks Microsoft co-sell, funding, and incentive programs that often translate directly into client cost reduction on engagement work.
Six Solutions Partner Designations. One Senior Architect on Your Engagement.
Talk to EPC Group about Microsoft 365, Azure, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Defender, or the full Governed AI on Microsoft Framework.