Bentley's Integrated Structural Modeling Brings Structural Engineers Into Integrated Project Workflows

Enables Them to Take Full Advantage of Building Information Modeling Best Practices and Resulting Business Benefits

EXTON, Pennsylvania, January 27 - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing
comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our
world, today announced the launch of its Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM)
methodology for creators and consumers of structural project information.
With ISM - and new no-cost software apps available for download from Bentley
- structural engineers finally can fully participate in multidisciplinary,
integrated project workflows. This means they also can take advantage of
innovative Building Information Modeling (BIM) best practices to reap
significant business benefits for their projects and organizations. ISM's
flexible workflows support design review of various structural assets, such
as buildings, bridges, towers, and industrial structures, by aggregating
information-rich content, in both proprietary and interoperable formats, from
multiple data sources. ISM results in intelligent structural designs, more
successful projects, and better-performing buildings and structures of all
types.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090611/PH30770LOGO )

The new apps - consisting of Structural Synchronizer V8i and Structural
Dashboard V8i - let structural engineers immediately and quickly employ ISM
in their integrated projects. Both can be downloaded for no charge at
www.bentley.com/getISM.

    Structural Synchronizer provides:

    - A shared repository of common structural model data;
    - The ability to track revisions and compare differences between
      versions;
    - Enhanced coordination through the synchronization of data across
      products;
    - Review facilitated by a structural model and drawing viewer with data
      interrogation capabilities;
    - Integrated applications and data for structural modeling, structural
      analysis and design, structural documentation and drafting, structural
      detailing and fabrication, plus industry-neutral formats;
    - An open API enabling third-party vendors to integrate with the ISM
      workflow.

    Structural Dashboard enables structural engineering professionals to:

    - Manage workflows for common project types;
    - Launch all structural applications from a unified interface;
    - Create customized workflows specific to individual projects;
    - Receive structural news from customizable RSS feeds;
    - Join a structural online community and access blogs, wikis, and forums;
    - Download product upgrades from the Bentley SELECTserver;
    - Manage project files and links within project workflows.

Up to now, a lack of interoperability among software applications has
kept most engineers from sharing the maximum business value that can be
derived from integrated projects and the BIM best practices required for
their successful completion. According to McGraw-Hill Construction's
SmartMarket Report 2009 "The Business Value of BIM," almost 50 percent of the
AEC industry is now using BIM, and the vast majority of these users,
including architects, contractors, and owners, are experiencing real business
benefits directly attributable to BIM. Strikingly, however, the study also
points out that less than half of the engineers employing BIM experience a
positive return on their investment (ROI) - with one-third saying they are
seeing a negative ROI. When asked for the top factors that would increase an
engineering firm's ability to see business benefits from BIM, 83 percent of
the engineers surveyed ranked improved interoperability among software as
"highly important."

Bentley's long-standing prioritization of interoperability motivated the
company to address this problem and, through its new ISM, bring structural
engineers integrated-project benefits. Facilitated by Bentley's new i-model
container for open infrastructure information exchange and Structural
Synchronizer V8i and Structural Dashboard V8i apps, ISM maximizes the
interoperability of structural information among different specialized
applications, CAD and BIM platforms, and design review environments. The
resulting integrated structural information workflows empower structural
engineers to add value to, and now get value from, integrated projects.

Santanu Das, Bentley vice president, Integrated Engineering Group, said,
"Integrating the structural project workflow - including modeling, analysis,
design, documentation, and detailing - through ISM enables structural
engineers, detailers, and fabricators to dramatically improve project
efficiency and safety, reduce errors, and enhance quality control. Moreover,
it enables engineers to investigate more design iterations and what-if
scenarios, and brings downstream processes, such as fabrication, into
consideration much earlier.

"Although those using Bentley's intra-operable structural products and
dynamic collaboration software will gain the most advantages from ISM, every
structural engineer and every project employing this new methodology will
realize significant benefits. We've done this to ensure better-performing,
more successful projects, and, thereby, help sustain the structural
engineering professions."

Das continued, "The breadth and depth of Bentley software, combined with
its industry-leading intra-operability, enable our users to analyze, design,
document, and deliver structures in an integrated project workflow that
maximizes the application intelligence at each step. But with the new ISM
apps, project teams ultimately will be able to deploy a wide array of
applications from multiple vendors and maintain interoperability throughout
the structural project lifecycle. I think all structural engineers should
download and start benefiting from our no-cost Structural Synchronizer V8i
and Structural Dashboard V8i apps today."

ISM-enabled structural tools currently include Bentley's Structural
Modeler (formerly known as Bentley Structural), RAM Concept, and RAM
Elements, as well as Autodesk Revit. For additional information about ISM and
these products, and to download Structural Synchronizer and Structural
Dashboard, visit www.bentley.com/ISM.

Bentley's comprehensive portfolio of software is available through a
number of innovative subscription offerings, including Bentley's Enterprise
License Subscription, SELECT subscription, and new Passport Subscriptions
that provide an affordable alternative to perpetual license purchases for
architectural, engineering, and mapping professionals. For additional
information, visit www.bentley.com/subscriptions.

About Bentley's Structural Software Portfolio

Bentley has the world's most extensive structural software portfolio. It
includes an unrivaled breadth and depth of applications within RAM, STAAD,
ProSteel, Structural Modeler, and Bentley AutoPIPE offering post-tensioned
slab and mat design, reinforced concrete design, steel connection design,
advanced analysis such as nonlinear and base isolators, fabrication
detailing, pipe stress analysis, 3D modeling and 2D drawing production, and
much more. For additional information about Bentley's structural software
portfolio, visit www.bentley.com/structural.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects,
engineers, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software
solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has more
than 2,700 colleagues and offices in more than 45 countries, achieved in 2008
the milestone of US$500 million in revenues, and, since 1995, has invested
more than US$1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com.
To subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts, visit
www.bentley.com/rss/news. To view a searchable collection of
innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, visit
www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure. For information about Be
Communities, a professional networking site that enables members of the
infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other,
visit communities.bentley.com.

Bentley, the "B" Bentley logo, Structural Synchronizer, Structural
Dashboard, RAM, STAAD, ProSteel, AutoPIPE, Structural Modeler, Enterprise
License Subscription, Passport Subscription, SELECT, SELECTserver, and
MicroStation are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service
marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect
wholly owned subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.

    News Release

    Press Contact:
    Ron Kuhfeld
    +1-610-321-6493
    ron.kuhfeld@bentley.com

Ron Kuhfeld of Bentley Systems, Incorporated, +1-610-321-6493, ron.kuhfeld at bentley.com