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The Occam Group: Leveraging Microsoft Solutions for Increased ROI Kenneth M. Barnhart, Founder & CEO
Based in Minneapolis, MN, Occam Group, a Microsoft Network Member, has a deep focus on Microsoft Portfolio Project Management (PPM), Cloud Security and Governance, Developer Productivity, and Cloud Strategy and Optimization services.

What is the Occam Group about? Put simply: Guiding business to victory. At its core, the Occam Group is an IT services firm with special emphasis on Microsoft Solutions which leverage the power of the cloud. Too many technology firms get caught up in the trap of talking with customers about features and functions, rather than focus on the larger issue to help businesses build sustainable competitive advantage–in short –help them win. How does Occam Group do this? Sir William of Occam is most famous for his scientific principle, Occam’s Razor: all thing being equal, the simpler explanation should be preferred to the more complex. This is a guiding star in all Occam Group solutions: drive the greatest value with the most efficient use of resources. The results of such emphasis are clear – high impact solutions.

As an example, consider the Microsoft 950 percent ROI case study which features long-time Occam customer, ETS. A U.S. based nonprofit organization for quality based education, ETS encountered an urgent need for exceptional project management solutions. A project-focused organization, their business units ran most projects through manual, paper-based processes to manage resources and schedules. As a result, many internal delivery organizations were overburdened, which further impacted project delivery to business units. Moreover, the immediate result was a high-attrition rate, owing to team imbalances and both over and underutilization of resources.

For over a decade, Occam has partnered with ETS to maximize business value through a Microsoft project management solution. Occam Group developed, delivered, and hosts a tailored solution based on Microsoft Project Server, which stores project information in a central Microsoft SQL Server database. This solution integrates cloud optimization, security, and project and portfolio management into one platform. Microsoft Project Server—aided with custom extensions—uses Microsoft SharePoint technology as the base. The result? A 950 percent hard ROI based on productivity, resource management, and business process automation.
The Microsoft Partner ecosystem has a large number of firms with deep benches of highly skilled technologists. Yet, how many of them include a cadre of professionals who are equally skilled at understanding the language of business and strategy? The ability of Occam to speak both languages is the rare and critical skill required to craft solutions which go beyond feature and function, and penetrate into capabilities which will drive business strategy.

Whether business process automation, securing a client’s critical IP, driving down cost in infrastructure, or reducing regulatory and compliance costs and risk, Occam enables organizations with their deep understanding of both technology and process. Beholden to neither and masters of both, the current innovation focus of Occam is on Azure optimization with Cloud Management frameworks, RunBook Automation, and developing a rich library of Patterns and Playbooks. We demonstrate an exceptional capability to develop solutions using a wide variety of tools, languages, and processes, and leverage the power of Azure to optimize the impact of client investments As an example, globalization is a dominating trend with far-reaching effects in the landscape. More and more organizations who leverage Microsoft solutions are now pushed beyond single region solutions, and feel the pressure to extend their reach to a global footprint. Realizing the importance of globalization, Occam has already partnered with organizations to extend the reach of their development and IT solutions to a global scale, through Azure management tools and cyber security capabilities. “Industrialization of IT is going to open up new challenges and opportunities in terms of cloud sourcing, cyber security, project and portfolio management and developer productivity. We have years of experience in these areas and will continue to invest heavily in them,” explains Ken Barnhart, CEO. The Occam Group



Helps customers win with services in Portfolio Project Management, Developer Productivity Platforms, Cyber Security & Governance, and Cloud Strategy & Optimization.