Centric Consulting Uses Azure D&A and Microsoft Expertise to Power Growth at Maas Energy Works

Maas Energy Works is a biogas company that uses anaerobic manure digesters on dairy, swine, and cattle farms to generate renewable natural gas (RNG). RNG is a clean-burning alternative to natural gas that helps decarbonize transportation and agriculture.

Starting with a single digester on a family dairy farm around 2007, MEW built an additional digester in California in 2010. Today, the company has more than 70 digesters capturing methane and other biogases from animal waste, converting it into RNG, and producing a nutrient-rich bioproduct that farmers can use as fertilizer.

As a fast-moving startup in 2007, MEW built its operations on G-Suite and analytics capabilities on SQL Server. However, with the rising demand for green energy, MEW realized it needed to modernize its collaboration and infrastructure tool and its data and analytics capabilities to meet demand and grow its business. The platform that had served them well as a young company could no longer support their needs.

Enter Centric: Delivering a One-Two Punch with Microsoft Azure and Licensing Expertise

MEW contacted Centric Consulting for help. Our engagement began by addressing MEW’s outdated data and analytics capabilities. Each anaerobic digester generates real-time data needed for safe, efficient operations with minimal methane release. Because the company has brought more digesters online, MEW is generating even more data to capture, analyze and retain.

“Renewable energy companies, especially those with complex equipment like anaerobic digesters, need to capture near real-time data, or it will be lost,” explained national AI capability lead Tim Hoolihan. “Aggregating and presenting that data optimally is critical — but difficult.”

When we began working with MEW, their SQL Server database relied on Excel and manual data manipulation for ad-hoc analyses. However, those methods resulted in six-week delays between bringing new digesters online and integrating operational data into analytics environments.

Employees had little access to real-time data needed to operate digesters, let alone add new ones. MEW needed a more reliable data strategy and standardized, modern architecture supporting increasing data needs.

We worked with MEW to create a roadmap using Microsoft tools like Synapse, Power BI, Azure Data Lake Storage, and Synapse pipelines. We then used Azure to create a new, cloud-based data architecture supporting the roadmap. Finally, we deployed our pre-engineered cloud data platform and automated data quality engine, allowing MEW to identify and remediate data quality issues.

With the data quality engine allowing MEW to see sensor data immediately as new digesters go online, the time needed to capture data from new sites dropped from 30 to 60 days to same-day availability.

These tools and Microsoft Azure’s framework allow MEW to see sensor data immediately when new production digesters go online and identify and programmatically remediate data quality issues. This analysis helps MEW prevent methane leaks, contributing to decarbonization goals.

“Near-real-time monitoring enables us to detect missing or irregular data, address issues promptly, and prevent revenue loss. It also supports ongoing data validation and corrections during processing,” said Tom Huth, Maas Energy Works director, information technology.

Launching a Microsoft Transformation

Building on our Azure success, we looked for other places where Microsoft tools could help.

“When we started working with Maas on the data project, they had no Microsoft footprint, other than PCs with Windows installed,” said Michael Murphy, vice president for energy and utilities at Centric. “They weren’t anti-Microsoft — they had just started with G-Suite as a ‘lean and mean’ startup.”

However, MEW needed help navigating Microsoft’s extensive product suite. Murphy recognized that Centric, as a Microsoft CSP, could help. Working with Microsoft Licensing and CSP Manager Michael Maryo, our team created a strategy to phase in Microsoft technologies through progressively inclusive licensing agreements.

Working with a CSP offers advantages over purchasing directly from Microsoft: direct billing and support, consolidated licensing management, strategic guidance on technology adoption, and cost optimization through pricing and bundling options only CSPs provide.

“At MEW, we began with Microsoft Business Standard licenses, which included basic Office apps, Exchange Online, and SharePoint Online,” Maryo said. “With these tools alone, MEW gained access to enterprise-grade productivity tools while maintaining existing workflows.”

Enhancing Security for Critical Infrastructure

Security is always a primary concern for energy companies, but Microsoft’s robust collaboration and sharing capabilities can introduce cybersecurity risks if not properly implemented.

Our team upgraded Business Standard licenses to Business Premium and added Azure Active Directory P1 (now Entra ID P1). The tools provided:

• Conditional access policies to control resource access
• Multifactor authentication for enhanced identity protection
• Advanced threat detection for suspicious logins
• Stronger security posture for a growing user base

These enhancements positioned MEW to continue transforming from a startup to a growing company while providing safer collaboration tools.

Building Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure

As the company grew, improving MEW’s IT infrastructure became more urgent. We introduced Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) E5 licenses and implemented Azure Active Directory P2 for advanced security features, deploying AI-powered security analysis, including “impossible travel” detection.

“The EMS E5 addition was particularly valuable because MEW is a geographically distributed energy company,” Maryo explained. “Those licenses provided advanced threat detection to identify suspicious login patterns across facility locations.”

A pivotal moment came when MEW decided to fully migrate from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365, including Gmail to Outlook and SharePoint. The project became less about licensing and more about completely transforming the collaboration infrastructure.

“With migrations completed, MEW began enjoying seamless, centralized integrations of all Office applications, further enhancing collaboration and data security,” Murphy adds.

“That’s when they started to realize the benefit of working with the right partner,” said Maryo. “The company had looked at other Microsoft partners throughout their journey, but they now understood the value we deliver.”

Continuing to Enhance Data and Analytics Capabilities

Our D&A team continued its work as we implemented additional Microsoft solutions. The team deployed Microsoft Synapse for data aggregation and real-time dashboards displaying energy production metrics.

“We also procured 60 Power BI Pro licenses for data visualization and Power BI Premium per-user licenses for advanced analytics,” Maryo said. “We deployed Microsoft Synapse for data aggregation, Power Automate Premium for workflows, and real-time dashboards.”

“Because we had built the Microsoft D&A solution on Azure Synapse, MEW can now scale data processing dynamically,” explained Hoolihan. “The architecture allows for structured, semi-structured, unstructured, and streaming data sources.”

Combined with Centric’s pre-engineered analytics platform, these improvements give MEW immediate sensor data visibility when digesters go online, allowing programmatic data quality remediation.

Empowering AI-Powered Operations

Like many energy clients, MEW wanted to use AI cost-effectively to improve operations.

We helped by strategically purchasing about 40 Microsoft Copilot licenses, with the company rolling out additional AI tools across its IT department.

“We carefully managed the Copilot rollout by distributing licenses based on specific use cases and demonstrated value,” Maryo said. “We also implemented a two-terabyte SharePoint storage expansion and began rolling out Teams Phone with Calling Plans to select users.”

However, Copilot is just the beginning of MEW’s AI strategy. The company uses Azure AI Studio to develop advanced technology tools. It has created a custom chatbot using Azure AI Studio to ingest and process extensive internal knowledge about dairy digester construction, optimization, and company information.

“These models also analyze real-time sensor data to prevent methane leaks, contributing to our decarbonization goals,” Huth said. “Additionally, AI algorithms will optimize manure processing conditions, increasing biogas yield per digester and boosting our RNG output.”

Complementing Microsoft Tools with NetSuite

In mid-2024, MEW started an ERP replacement project, looking at several modern cloud-based ERP solutions. They ultimately selected Oracle NetSuite and Centric as their implementation partner.

“The main reason NetSuite was MEW’s selected solution was that the company had a large number of QuickBooks instances that needed consolidation into a single, unified system,” explained Centric NetSuite practice lead Kevin Corder. “NetSuite’s robust consolidation tools and multi-subsidiary capabilities uniquely suit it for that complex requirement.”

After going live on January 1, 2025 — just six months after starting the NetSuite implementation — MEW began enjoying streamlined financial operations and unified financial management.

Conclusion: Strategic Licensing + Microsoft Technology Enables Green Energy Growth

Our journey with MEW illustrates how the right technology partnership enables dramatic business scaling while maintaining operational efficiency. MEW now has a cloud-based architecture that provides better data transparency, automated information processing, and alerts warning users as issues arise.

“We are proud of our work with this leading green energy company,” Murphy said. “Seeing them grow from no significant Microsoft cloud services to a significant ongoing investment that will benefit them substantially has been inspiring.”