EPC Group Launches Managed Microsoft Cloud & Analytics Service — Senior-Architect-Led Lifecycle Partnership

Three-tier retainer model — Managed Governance, Managed Platform, Managed Lifecycle — from $6,500/mo. Senior architects who build it stay to run it.

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, May 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- North America's oldest Microsoft Gold Partner, a five-time G2 Leader in Business Intelligence Consulting, and the firm behind 10,000+ Microsoft implementations — today launched the Managed Microsoft Cloud & Analytics Service, a three-tier retainer model that replaces project-by-project consulting with a senior-architect-led lifecycle partnership spanning the full arc of enterprise and mid-market Microsoft programs: assess, architect, implement, govern, and operate.

The Service is built on a simple operating principle EPC Group has held for twenty-nine years: the senior architects who design and build a client's Microsoft platform are the same senior architects who stay to run it. No bait-and-switch to junior staff after the SOW signs. No discontinuity between implementation and operations. No new vendor required for ongoing optimization.

"For three decades, the Microsoft consulting market has trained enterprise buyers to expect a handoff — senior architects sell and design the work, then juniors run it, and a different managed services vendor takes over after go-live. We never agreed with that model," said Errin O'Connor, Founder and Chief AI Architect of EPC Group.

"Our clients hire senior architects because senior architects build the right thing. Then they want those same senior architects to keep running it. So we built a service that lets them. Same people. Whole lifecycle. Fixed monthly fee."

THREE TIERS

Tier 1 — Managed Governance — From $6,500/month

Quarterly minimum. Built for organizations that need ongoing AI executive oversight, Microsoft Purview policy management, and Power BI governance committee leadership without a full-time C-level hire. Includes the EPC Group Virtual Chief AI Officer (vCAIO) Fractional Retainer, monthly Purview policy reviews, Power BI workspace certification gating, sensitivity-label drift monitoring, and a named senior architect on call.

Tier 2 — Managed Platform — From $15,000/month

Everything in Tier 1, plus Microsoft Fabric capacity management, Power BI Premium optimization, Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout supervision, Conditional Access policy management, monthly executive readout, and operational ownership of Fabric, Power BI, and Copilot environments. Built for organizations whose Microsoft platform is now mission-critical and needs senior-architect operational ownership.

Tier 3 — Managed Lifecycle — From $35,000/month

Everything in Tier 2, plus a dedicated senior architect available 24×5, quarterly strategic platform review with executive leadership, AI roadmap ownership across the Microsoft stack, vendor-neutral evaluation of new Microsoft capabilities (Fabric, Copilot, AI Foundry, Purview, Entra), 4-hour first-response SLA, and full lifecycle ownership of the client's Microsoft platform from strategy through operation.

THE FULL LIFECYCLE — ONE PARTNER

EPC Group's Managed Service is built around the lifecycle arc that enterprise and mid-market buyers are increasingly demanding from a single accountable partner:

- Assess — Tenant audits, Copilot readiness assessments, Purview posture reviews
- Architect — Senior-architect-led design across Power BI, Fabric, M365, Copilot, Purview, and Azure
- Implement — Cafeteria-Menu Purview Hardening, Mid-Market Acceleration Suite packages, enterprise programs
- Govern — Microsoft Purview policy authoring, DLP, DSPM for AI, certified-dataset workflows
- Operate — Monthly platform health, capacity management, license optimization, and continuous improvement

For 29 years EPC Group has delivered the first four stages. The Managed Service formally extends that delivery model into stage five — operate — under the same senior-architect leadership.

SENIOR ARCHITECTS, NOT JUNIOR CONSULTANTS

Every Managed Service engagement is staffed by senior architects with an average of 15+ years of Microsoft platform experience. EPC Group does not staff Managed Service engagements with junior consultants under senior oversight; the named senior architect on a client's account is the senior architect doing the work. This is the structural opposite of the pyramid staffing model used by global systems integrators, where the proposal is built by senior partners and the delivery is executed by associates.

"The Big Four pitch is always 'our partners will architect this for you,'" said O'Connor. "Then the partner shows up at the kickoff and disappears. We built the senior-architect model because that's the model our clients actually want. If you're paying for a senior architect, you should get a senior architect."

ANCHORED BY THE vCAIO PRACTICE

All three tiers are anchored by EPC Group's Virtual Chief AI Officer (vCAIO) practice — the industry's first fractional AI executive service. The vCAIO owns the client's AI strategy, Copilot rollout plan, and Purview governance posture as a single integrated program, ensuring that platform operations stay aligned with strategic direction rather than drifting over time.

WHO THE SERVICE IS FOR

The Managed Microsoft Cloud & Analytics Service is built for:

- Enterprise organizations of 2,500+ users running Microsoft Fabric, Power BI Premium, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Microsoft Purview
Mid-market organizations of 100 to 2,500 users that completed an EPC Group Mid-Market Acceleration Suite package and want continuous optimization

- Organizations preparing for or running Microsoft 365 Copilot at scale

- Regulated industries — financial services, healthcare, government, energy, manufacturing — that need governance posture monitored continuously, not annually

Any organization that has been frustrated by junior-staffed managed services from global systems integrators

PRICING & ENGAGEMENT MODEL

- Tier 1 — Managed Governance: From $6,500/month · Quarterly minimum
- Tier 2 — Managed Platform: From $15,000/month · Quarterly minimum
- Tier 3 — Managed Lifecycle: From $35,000/month · Annual commitment

Engagement entry: All three tiers can be entered standalone or as a continuation of any EPC Group implementation engagement
Termination: Clients may exit any tier at the end of any quarter with 30-day notice — no long-term lock-in

REMOTE-FIRST DELIVERY

The Managed Service is delivered remote-first from EPC Group's North American senior-architect bench headquartered in Texas, with optional on-site engagement reviews across the United States and Canada. Senior consultants are assigned from day one with a single accountable program owner.

ABOUT EPC GROUP

EPC Group serves organizations across all industries and all sizes throughout the United States and Canada. The firm's enterprise practice supports Fortune 500 companies, federal agencies, and multi-tenant regulated environments across healthcare, financial services, government, manufacturing, energy, education, retail, and technology. The firm's mid-market practice serves growing organizations of 100 to 2,500 users through structured, fixed-scope packages. The firm's Managed Microsoft Cloud & Analytics Service extends both practices into ongoing lifecycle ownership.

Michelle Stevens
EPC Group
+1 888-381-9725
contact@epcgroup.net
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