The Managing Directors of BESCAP, LLC have been in business together in various forms since 1998, where they met at a small technology services business in Baltimore, MD.
The Alpha Computing Group was, like many technology ventures at the time, an interesting smorgasbord of services, from cabling to server design to ISP. As the dot-com boom heated up, Alpha’s founder started a new venture to take some of Alpha’s software assets (as well as plenty of new ideas) and develop a web-based application. The result was an online customer service application, iCommunicate. Aaron Elder left Alpha to join the iCommunicate team as a lead developer. Mark Barrett, who was then President of the now-renamed Invoke Systems (formerly Alpha Computing) took the reins at Invoke as the founder became more and more involved in his new venture. Michael Speca was taking the lead position on Invoke’s federal business.
In 2001, iCommunicate was acquired by Microsoft. Aaron and the rest of the iCommunicate team moved to the west coast, ultimately becoming the lead developers for the Microsoft CRM application. Mark and Michael continued in leadership positions during the reshuffling. Shortly thereafter, the dot-com bubble would burst, and Invoke shrank with it. Mark, Michael and a third partner would acquire a failing Invoke Systems in their first deal.
Mark would later comment: “If I knew then what I know about running businesses now, I never would have bought Invoke.” But the three partners knew that Invoke had some great assets that wouldn’t show up on the balance sheet. One, they had a terrific team of dedicated consultants and technologists. Two, they had a solid reputation of doing good work. A few press releases and local events later, and the phone was ringing. After 12 months the firm was up to a respectable $3M run rate and the future looked promising.
Meanwhile, at Microsoft, Aaron and a close colleague were on the verge of their 3rd release of Microsoft CRM. After a few years working in a large company, they were ready for something new, and often discussed striking out on their own. One of their possible strategies – joining Invoke Systems. After 3 months of negotiations, the two bought in as partners to Invoke.
The 5 partners started the firm in a new direction by pursuing the Microsoft CRM 3.0 launch aggressively. They were one of the first firms to focus on “xRM”, using Microsoft CRM as a development platform for managing any kind of relationship. Eventually, Invoke successfully partnered with the Microsoft Dynamics Federal team on both the largest single CRM sale at that time (10,000 seats) and in the development of the first widely adopted CRM-based industry productivity tool, designed to manage a ubiquitous business process within the US military. Between 2004 and 2007, the 5 partners grew the firm from $3M to$12M, with 50 full time employees, a thriving services business, and a successful software product. They were hands down the most successful Microsoft CRM partner, driving a large portion of Microsoft CRM sales in North America.
In 2007 Invoke was acquired by Ascentium, a technology and digital media company headquartered in Washington. During the subsequent three years, the team would gain valuable enterprise experience as Microsoft CRM grew from a primarily mid-market application to a full-fledged enterprise solution. Having grown a company in good times, they also managed their team through bad times, continuing profitable growth inside their practice, despite the down economy.
It was during this tumultuous period that the leadership of the Ascentium’s xRM team and the Board of Directors decided it would be best to sell the CRM business to a third party. The firm retained Cascadia Capital, and after over a year of work, Ascentium consummated a deal with Avanade, another leader in the Microsoft CRM space. At Avanade, Mark led the integration of Ascentium’s xRM business with Avanade’s. The firm’s practice was – and is – the largest Microsoft xRM consultancy by just about any measurement you care to make.
After a time at Avanade, Aaron, Mark and Michael came to understand that the next chapter in their careers lay outside technology consulting. The partners formed BESCAP in May of 2011. “If I wanted to be in technology consulting, I would have stayed with Avanade,” Michael has told friends and colleagues asking about the change. “It was difficult for all of us walk away from the opportunities we had there. But the idea of growing new businesses, learning more about new industries, and applying what we know about technology to create a competitive edge for our partners — that is what we are passionate about, and BESCAP is the most exciting way for us to pursue that vision.”