Abba Technologies
proves that reputation can take a small company a long way in a changing industry.

By Jennifer LeClaire

There are two ways to launch a business empire: Build it or buy it. Andrew Baca is doing both with Abba Technologies.
Digital and IBM Corporation employees founded Abba Technologies in Albuquerque in 1993. The firm serves government and private sector organizations with fully integrated IT solutions. Key customers include the Air Force, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
Baca, an IBM employee for 11 years, wasn’t part of the founding team. But he is head of the team that has taken the company to the next level. Baca switched allegiances from one of the largest technology companies in the world to one of the smallest technology companies in the world in 1997. Four years later, he and 17 other employees purchased the company for an undisclosed sum. It didn’t take the new president and CEO long to discover a new revenue stream.
“We realized we were providing valuable technology consulting for free as part of system purchases, says Baca. “So we decided to start charging a fee for our consulting services. We brought in consultants from world-class organizations like IBM, HP and EMC and built a professional services practice.”
Baca has been building ever since. Soon after taking office, he launched a systems integration practice that includes the planning, design, implementation and project management of technology solutions. That turned out to be a smart move. According to market research firm IDC, worldwide systems integration services experienced its strongest year in 2005 since the peak of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s.
Under Baca’s leadership, Abba Technologies graduated from its 8(a) SBA status in 2004. The 8(a) program aims to help develop small companies owned and operated by socially and economically disadvantaged persons. Minority businesses fall into that group. One of the 8(a) program’s business development tools is the award of federal contracts, which can help sustain small businesses.
When Baca led the buyout, the previous owner was a member of the 8(a) program. But that status did not automatically transfer to Baca, creating a void that could have put the company out of business.
“We had a lot of 8(a) contracts when we bought the company. Our competitors kept doing 8(a) business and we lost quite a bit of business,” Baca recalls. “It was a tremendous challenge to keep the company solid financially.”
Baca began focusing on other segments of the market, leading Abba to eventually graduate from the program, a sure sign of the company’s strength and growth.
“We had the foresight to start building the commercial and state government clientele and added the professional services practices that helped us weather the storm. We should be on a Discovery Channel program called Survivor Companies. ”
Baca comes from a long line of survivors—and successes. His family was among the original settlers of the Southwest and still lives on land grants from the Spanish Crown dating back to the 1600s.
The Baca family is entrepreneurial to its roots. Baca’s grandfather, M.C., started Belen Auto Sales in Belen, New Mexico in 1939. His father, brother, and sister still run the family business today. Pilar Sachs, Andrew’s maternal grandfather, owned an appliance business in Belen from 1946 to 1984. Even his cousins, Bobby and Danny Sachs, are entrepreneurs. They co-own Team Specialty Products in Albuquerque. Baca’s foray into the business world seems predestined.
“When I went to college I got interested in computer systems and went to work for IBM. But I always had the drive to own my own business,” Baca explains. “At IBM, I always went after the skill sets and the training rather than the money to position myself to own my own business.” Baca didn’t leave IBM to start a business, however. He left IBM’s Denver offices to start a family in New Mexico. The business opportunity arose in its own time.
Over the past six years, Baca’s leadership has led the company to success after success. The company has won government awards and business recognition. In 2003, Flying 40 named Abba Technologies one of the fastest growing technology companies in New Mexico. The growth didn’t slow, and Abba repeated the feat in 2004 and 2005.
New Mexico Business Weekly ranked Abba Technologies number one in gross revenue among computer networking firms in 2006, as well as one of the best places to work. The company is now winning national recognition, with entrance to the Hispanic Business 500 List in 2007. Most recently, Baca received the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Administrator’s Award for Excellence for companies that excel in overall management, delivery performance, technical capabilities and exceptional results.
Dennis Roybal, Small Business Program Manager of the Acquisition Services Management Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, nominated Baca for the award. “LANL’s experience in working with Abba Technologies has been excellent in all respects, from quality products and service to excellent customer service,” Roybal says. “Andrew is an outstanding person and professional.”
Now Abba Technologies is taking that reputation to other states. The firm has offices in Denver, Colorado Springs and Phoenix. That’s in addition to the firm’s three offices in New Mexico.
Baca’s geographic growth strategy depends on finding the right leaders to staff offices. He is careful to preserve the company’s culture and ethics as it grows, something he learned from his IBM days. “I have the same expectations of my employees that IBM has of its employees,” he says. “It’s important to learn how the big guys do things because they were once small guys that got big because they were the best at what they did.”
The company has 49 employees across its six offices, but it is growing vertically as well as geographically. Its foundation is based on high performance computers for the federal government, but it has grown vertically to offer server, storage, network and Voice-over Internet Protocol. The company is also growing horizontally, with professional services including consulting, IT training and staffing and managed services. “Our customers have one-stop shopping,” Baca says. “Finding good employees to help us grow is our greatest challenge.”
Abba Technologies is also a good corporate citizen, participating in food drives, blood drives, and helping other small businesses make their dreams come true. In April, Baca was named chairman of the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation and appointed as an officer of New Mexico Community Capital. “I’ve always been impressed by Andrew’s credentials, with what he does with his company, and his high character,” says Phil Castillo, COO of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce.
Baca doesn’t take all the credit. He shares the glory with the employees who joined forces with him to buy Abba Technologies. The company posted revenues of $40.2 million in 2006. That compares to $46 million in 2005. Baca attributes the decline on shrinking customer budgets, but is confident 2007 levels will rebound—and with better margins—thanks to a greater focus on profitable services.
Now Baca is focusing on becoming the premier IT firm in the Southwest. He is willing to sacrifice all but one thing to get there: the company’s reputation.
“We take care of our reputation. We always try to do the right thing for customers because not only does it attract more business, it also attracts the very best employees,” Baca says. “Even if it means we forgo profit and revenue on certain situations, we will continue to do the right thing.”