Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley SELECT: Portfolio Balancing (part 1)

David Huie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:15:00 GMT

Annually Align Your Bentley Portfolio With Your Business Needs

As we begin the new year, many of us take stock of our financial portfolios to see how our investments have performed over the past year. Invariably, some investments have proven more valuable than others, and we should consider what changes may need to be made, including reallocating some of our portfolio to promising new investments in search of better returns.

When it comes to your company’s software portfolio, it’s a different story. Software investments are not typically “liquid” in a way that you can reinvest them for a different mix of software titles. For example, a structural engineering firm may be anticipating more work on offshore wind farms in 2012 and less on new commercial building structures, precipitating a need for a whole new set of software products and reducing the need for existing ones. In order to align their business needs and their software portfolio, they’ll need to purchase more licenses while others will go unused.

Bentley’s Portfolio Balancing changes the equation and does for your software portfolio what financial planners can do for your financial portfolio—help you better distribute your existing investment to get the best possible return. As part of Bentley’s SELECT subscription program, Portfolio Balancing enables you to “reinvest” to best meet your anticipated software needs. Once a year, at a your SELECT anniversary date, you can select an entirely new mix of software titles in exchange for your current underutilized Bentley software, providing the flexibility to meet your changing software needs.

All of which adds up to an unprecedented opportunity for you to annually maximize the value you get from your aggregate investment with Bentley by ensuring you have the right mix of titles in your portfolio. SELECT subscribers have eagerly embraced this new flexibility. Take for example this statement from an US-based engineering consulting firm:

“When projects are scarce, anything we can do to win new jobs and reduce the cost of delivering them helps us remain competitive. Bentley SELECT’s portfolio balancing helps us meet new software requirements and gives us better latitude to try new products by simply exchanging underused licenses for new ones. It has reduced our need to buy new software, and we think it will give us better flexibility and save money—it’s a smart idea.”

--K.W. Chan, K.M. Ng & Associates, Inc.

Look for my next posts where I’ll describe more about exactly how Portfolio Balancing works, how the calculations are done, and what information is available to help you make informed decisions when making changes to your Bentley portfolio. It's just another one of the ways we want to help you realize the value of SELECT. You can also watch a 10 minute recorded presentation on Portfolio Balancing if you'd like to learn more right away.

SmartGeometry 2011 Copenhagen: Building the Invisible

Christine Byrne — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:27:12 GMT

Somehow, it feels like a privilege to have attended the SmartGeometry conferences over the last several years; I feel like I've been present at the beginning of something big, that the ideas shared and developed at SG conferences are going to have really important impacts in the future. Stars are being born here and new technologies are visibly emerging-that's how it feels.

This year's conference, held in Copenhagen, was no exception-the basic sense of smart, passionate people playing with ideas and pushing each other to new levels was more present than ever. But there were differences. The SmartGeometry conferences and community are maturing, and applying their strengths in new ways. Architecture and buildings, for example, are no longer the main focus of SmartGeometry. Rather, architecture is now one of several fields being revolutionized by generative design, genetic algorithms, emergent computing, and other cutting edge digital technology. Top thinkers in specialties as diverse as city planning and textile design are finding that they have a lot to say to each other, and that digital fluency is a good way to say it. Consider the ten 'clusters' that organized this year's conference:

Use the force (used GenerativeComponents)
Interacting with the city (used GenerativeComponents)
Urban feeds
Cyber gardens
Performing skins
Authored sensing
Agent construction (used GenerativeComponents)
Hybrid space structure topologies
Reflective environments (used GenerativeComponents)
Responsive acoustic surfacing (used GenerativeComponents)

If the clusters seem like they're all over the place, well, they are... and that's the point. The results are bound to be interesting when you gather a lot of brilliant people in one big space-this year it was the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture-give them common tools, and set them to work on very different projects. It was exhilarating to walk around the workshop and see what the clusters were creating. One that especially caught my eye was 'interacting with the city'. Tools like Microsoft Kinect sensors, GenerativeComponents, and digital projectors were used to:

"... create tangible models of the city 'in action', using historical or real-time data. Using Web 2.0 technology, processing, tangible interactions, projections, and digital modeling and fabrication, physical and digital models will be set up to enable visualization and tangible interaction with the data. The use of data from Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps, and various data sources from cities and public websites will be investigated. The goal of the cluster is to explore a new kind of design collaboration informed by real world data."

That sounds dry, but in practice it was kind of magical. Cityscapes were projected onto tables and 3D models, and the Kinect sensors were used to track hand movements. So, you could literally reach into a city and rearrange things; then, data from various sources and computer modeling were used to instantly show changes to, for example, traffic patterns. Neat stuff; it was a little like playing SimCity with real world results.

One hundred applicants worked together for four days, supported by technical staff, 3D printers, a workshop, and other resources. Then, two days were spent on the 'TalkShop' and Symposium. In the TalkShop, cluster participants made presentations to the assembled conference as panels, reflecting on lessons learned during the workshop period. The panel format was less formal than previous conferences, and I liked it-there were a lot of great moments as panelists responded to each other and to audience questions.

The symposium this year featured some amazing keynote speakers. Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, head of the Center for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA), Denmark, was spellbinding on the subject of craft and structural textiles. Lisa Amini, Director of IBM's Smarter City Lab in Dublin, said of the problems facing cities, "This may be the challenge of our life-this is where we live, after all," and talked about the ways that IBM is using Dublin as a laboratory for city experimentation. And Usman Haque of Haque Design + Research continually delighted the audience with a visually impressive talk about responsive environments, interactive installations, and mass-participation art projects. And these are just the first three that occur to me; all the speakers this year were playing their 'A game'; the intelligent, interested audience seemed to bring out the best in everyone.

The theme of 2011 SmartGeometry was "Building the Invisible" and it really did seem like participants were gathering up unseen things, like new ideas and connections, and building them into something tangible... something that might someday change the world. It was a pleasure and a privilege to attend, and I'm so proud that Bentley Systems sponsors this important community as well supports users of GenerativeComponents in their quest to improve the world. For more information on the 2011 SmartGeometry Conference, visit http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Promo/SmartGeometry/2011/

To download a free copy of GenerativeComponents, visit http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Promo/Generative+Components/Special+Offers.htm

Bentley i-model Composer V8i (SELECTseries 3) Is Now Available

Joe Granville — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:58:34 GMT

The latest version of Bentley’s popular iterative project review product, which allows teams to publish i-models for collaboration, is now available. Bentley i-model Composer V8i (SELECTseries 3) was released on Jan. 5, 2011 and can be downloaded via SELECTservices. We recently renamed ProjectWise i-model Composer V8i to Bentley i-model Composer V8i.

Bentley i-model Composer V8i (SELECTseries 3) includes many new innovations designed to meet the demands of global project teams. Here is a short summary of some of those features.

Native Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) support

Bentley users can now open IFC files natively and also publish IFC files into i-models. In both cases, the geometry and intelligence in Building Information Models delivered in IFC format can be reused in design review workflows without the cost and risk of error-prone translations.

Compose files for publishing in i-model Composer

Bentley i-model Composer V8i can now reference additional files including DGN, DWG and other i-models for publishing packages for project reviews. Bentley i-model Composer now becomes a true composition tool to assemble and aggregate models for review.

RealDWG^TM 2010 and Autodesk FBX® files referencing

Using Bentley i-model Composer V8i, teams can reference RealDWG 2010 and Autodesk FBX files with 100% fidelity. Bentley i-model Composer V8i extends users' access to these common project file formats without loss of quality or accuracy.

We hope that all of this will entice you to give Bentley Navigator V8i (SELECTseries 3) a good workout!
If you have questions, feel free to contact us here at Bentley. As always, we welcome your feedback, which you can leave in the ProjectWise Community Forum.

Top Awards Recognize Bentley for Best Use of Social Media and for CAD Product of the Year

Christine Byrne — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:45:15 GMT

Construction Computing magazine announced that Bentley won two awards this year for Best Use of Social Media in 2010 and for CAD Product of the Year for Generative Components V8i Technology Preview. Bentley was also named runner-up in two categories, Structural Analysis Product of the Year and Building Services Product of the Year.

The 2010 winners were announced at a gala dinner held in London on November 25th, with around 200 people from the industry’s leading companies attending the awards ceremony at The Guoman Tower Hotel, overlooking Tower Bridge.

This is not the first year that Bentley has been recognized for our outstanding products. In 2009, Bentley Systems walked away with the CAD Software Product of the Year Award for MicroStation V8i and the Structural Analysis Software of the Year Award for STAAD.Pro. In 2008, Bentley Systems was recognized as the Company of the Year and also received an award for Environmental Product of the Year Award.

About the Construction Computing Awards

Affectionately known as “The Hammers,” the Construction and Computing Awards showcase and reward technology, tools, and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance, and modification of commercial buildings, resident and social housing, and civil engineering projects of all sizes. The winners were selected by Construction Computing magazine’s readership, which includes IT professionals in construction, product, project, and service companies. For more information, visit www.constructioncomputingawards.co.uk.

Bentley Systems Nominated for Construction Computing Awards – VOTE NOW!

Phil Chouinard - Bentley — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:46:00 GMT

Bentley has been nominated for ten Construction Computing Awards! Also known as “The Hammers,” the Construction and Computing Awards showcase and reward technology, tools, and solutions for the effective design, construction, maintenance, and modification of commercial buildings, resident and social housing, and civil engineering projects of all sizes.

For the 2010 Awards, Bentley has been nominated in the following categories:

CAD Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - GenerativeComponents V8i Technology Preview
Mobile Technology Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - ProjectWise Dynamic Plot V8i
Structural Design & Engineering Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM)
Structural Analysis Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - STAAD (X)
Building Services Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Bentley Hevacomp Suite of Building Performance Products
Best Use of Social Media
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated (including Be Communities)
Editors Choice
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - OpenPlant Interoperability Suite
Environmental Project of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - Feilden Clegg
Product of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated - ProjectWise V8i
Company of the Year
- Bentley Systems, Incorporated

In 2009, Bentley Systems walked away with the CAD Software Product of the Year Award for MicroStation V8i and the Structural Analysis Software of the Year Award for STAAD.Pro. In 2008, Bentley Systems was recognized as the Company of the Year and also received the Environmental Product of the Year Award.

Ahead of the Curve...

One of the new categories that was added this year is the Award for Best Use of Social Media. Paul Wilkinson, a construction public relations and marketing specialist, wrote about the implications of recognizing companies for their Web 2.0 advancements. In particular, Paul noted Bentley Systems’ social media activity with Be Communities, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. He recognized Bentley Systems’ comprehensive and integrated approach to social media and offered a rating of 9 out of 10 (his highest score among the competition):

“Bentley Systems is one of the biggest names in construction design software, and has sought to develop and maintain end-user loyalty through its Be Communities. Of the award contenders, this is perhaps the most mature and sophisticated. A Beta version was launched in May 2008 and was enhanced and updated six months later. It provides a social networking site for Bentley users in the AEC and related fields, and includes forums, blogs, resource galleries and wikis, enabling users to connect, communicate and learn from each other. From the BE Communities home page (which has an RSS feed), there are also links to Bentley’s Facebook page (1084 fans), the @BentleySystems Twitter account (1161 followers; following 852; 1087 tweets), and its YouTube channel (70 subscribers, 6955 upload views). And, as an industry IT blogger, I can also say that Bentley’s PR team actively cultivate their links to external bloggers too. The pwcom verdict: 9/10 (love the comprehensive, integrated approach).”

You can read Paul’s entire blog entry by clicking here.

Cast Your Vote!

Vote for Bentley now at the Construction Computing Awards website. Voting will be open until November 15, and an awards ceremony will be held on November 25.

About Construction Computing

Construction Computing is the only U.K. magazine to focus specifically on IT solutions for the construction industry. It has a circulation of just over 10,000 copies per issue.

The magazine’s editorial purpose is to provide information about all aspects of construction IT product and service use across the whole range of construction areas. Editorial content is placed in a construction company and construction project context. For example, how will any specific IT component improve the course of a particular construction project, and how will it improve the performance of the construction company and its relationship with the client? Content is presented so that IT can be shown to provide real construction business benefits such as increased profitability, lower costs, and faster project execution. For more information, visit http://www.document-manager.com/cco/about.asp

ConstructSim a winner in the 2009 “Plant Engineering” Product of the Year Awards

HowardO — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:20:00 GMT

ConstructSim, by Bentley Systems Inc., has been selected by the readers of Plant Engineering magazine as a winner in the 2009 Product of the Year Awards! The annual Product of the Year recognition, now in its 22nd year, is the manufacturing industry standard for new product achievement.

Dr. Ted Blackmon, Director of Construction Solutions accepted the award on behalf of Bentley Systems in recognition of his visionary leadership in the development of ConstructSim. Dr. Blackmon commented on the significance of the award at this time saying,

"The prize represents a milestone in the adoption of information technology into construction sites, as we further advance towards the full convergence of digital and physical infrastructure. Our work with ConstructSim has provided leadership in extending the use of rich engineering models as part of key construction work processes."

"Owner/Operators, EPCs and constructors are experiencing the impact of fully realizable virtual construction software that moves beyond the realm of 3D ‘model-based' design review. Furthermore, by integrating information across diverse project IT systems such as scheduling, cost estimating, materials management and field labor tracking, ConstructSim enables improved decision making and planning throughout the construction process - reducing risks and costs. The end result is a step change in the potential ROI (return-on-investment) for users adopting virtual construction software."

ConstructSim was developed directly in the field working hand-in-hand with industry partners over a 10 year period with over 100 projects to revolutionize the future of construction. The heart of ConstructSim lies in its ability to allow a construction team to not only see, but even to define their path of construction in a virtual model.

Plant Engineering award winners were selected by a vote of qualified Plant Engineering subscribers - the people who buy, specify and use these products on a daily basis. They are the most qualified engineers you can find to understand how new products reduce energy costs, ensure safety and improve productivity on the manufacturing plant floor. That's why the Plant Engineering Product of the Year award is so highly regarded in the industry.

The award was presented at the 2010 Manufacturing/Automation Summit, presented by Plant Engineering and Control Engineering, held March 28-30th in downtown Chicago. For more information on ConstructSim visit: http://bentley.com/constructsim.

Bentley Announces Winners of 2009 Be Inspired Awards

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:20:00 GMT

14 October 2009

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Bentley Systems Announces Be Together: The Be Communities ‘Live’

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:19:00 GMT

15 October 2009

Community-Minded Event Will Be Built on the Innovative Ideas of Professional Networking Site's Members, as well as of Bentley User Groups Around the World

EXTON, Pa. - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced Be Together: The Be Communities ‘Live' Conference. The inaugural event will take place May 17-20, 2010, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. In the spirit of Be Communities - Bentley's new professional networking site with already 30,000 members - this community-minded event will be built on the innovative ideas of its members, as well as of Bentley User Groups around the world. This approach will ensure that Be Communities ‘Live' is both purposeful and insightful to the architectural, engineering, construction, and geospatial professionals who take part in this innovative conference.

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Bentley and Pointools Sign Continuous Technology Transfer Agreement to Incorporate Vortex Engine in Bentley Platform

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:18:00 GMT

14 October 2009

Will Enable Bentley Software Users to Interoperably Reference, and Manage, Virtually Unlimited Point Cloud Data for Intelligent Infrastructure Modeling

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe that it has entered into a technology agreement with Pointools Ltd., the leader in high-performance software to exploit point clouds captured by 3D laser scanning of infrastructure assets, including aerial LiDAR surveys. Through this agreement, Bentley has licensed Pointools' super-fast Vortex API engine (and its ongoing upgrades) for incorporation in MicroStation and all other software products that leverage Bentley's platform technology.

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Bentley Signs Definitive Acquisition Agreement to Create Leadership Position in China’s Unprecedented Bridge Investment

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:17:00 GMT

14 October 2009

Integration of BridgeMaster Software for Automated Drawing Production With ProjectWise and Bentley BrIM Offerings Will Accelerate Projects

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the business of KSJ Beijing Software Technology Co. Ltd., which includes the BridgeMaster product line. BridgeMaster is the leading software in China for the fast and efficient automated production of bridge construction drawings meeting even the most demanding Chinese engineering standards. Bentley's development plans for BridgeMaster include its integration with Bentley's ProjectWise collaboration system for connecting people and information - providing BridgeMaster users with streamlined workflows and further improvements in project team productivity.

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Bentley Systems Marks 25 Years of Sustaining Infrastructure at Be Inspired: Infrastructure

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:16:00 GMT

13 October 2009

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell, the United States' Leading Advocate for Infrastructure Investment, Congratulates Bentley for its Cumulative Global Accomplishments

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - At this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, Bentley Systems, Incorporated, observed its 25th year as a company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world. The milestone was first acknowledged in Bentley's May 2009 Annual Report, which is available online at www.bentley.com/AnnualReport.

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Bentley Introduces Timely Value-Creative Subscription Innovations to Help Sustain the Infrastructure Professions

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:15:00 GMT

13 October 2009

Company Endeavors to Help Both Large Organizations and Individual Practitioners to Expand Information Technology Adoption in Response to Economic Challenges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced, at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, the immediate availability of Country-Level License Pooling and Passport Subscriptions. Country-Level License Pooling, Bentley's latest SELECT subscription enhancement, expands the benefits of site-level license pooling. Passport Subscriptions provide, for named users, an affordable alternative to perpetual license purchases. The value created by both of these subscription innovations is passed on to the users' constituents in the form of higher-quality projects delivered in less time and at a lower cost.

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Bentley Makes Collaboration ‘Dynamic’ with New Offerings that Incorporate ProjectWise Navigator V8i (SELECTseries 1) and Bentley i-models

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:14:00 GMT

13 October 2009

Enables Change Management for Iterative Design Workflows, Fully Addressing Interoperability Challenges for Infrastructure Projects

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Bentley Delivers RealDWG and 3D Printing Support in MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1)

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:13:00 GMT

13 October 2009

Ongoing Development Provides Improved Interoperability, Enhanced Workflows, and Broader Reuse of Design Information

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, announced the October 2009 availability of MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 1). This newest version of MicroStation features innovative and flexible value-creative enhancements for infrastructure professionals highlighted by RealDWG library support and integrated 3D printing capabilities. SELECTseries updates for all Bentley products maintain forward and backward compatibility across the entire V8i lifecycle. They are scheduled independently for each Bentley product and are made available to Bentley SELECT subscribers for adoption at their own pace, to suit project schedules and align with project demands.

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Bentley Adds Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Capabilities Through Acquisition of gINT Software

mattyb130 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:11:00 GMT

13 October 2009

Acquisition of Leader in Geotechnical Data Management Includes gINT Enterprise for Lifecycle Interoperability of Subsurface Data

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Be Inspired: Infrastructure Best Practices Symposium and Awards - Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced, at this invitation-only gathering of top users from around the globe, that it has acquired gINT Software. Headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., gINT Software has been a leader in geotechnical and geoenvironmental products since its founding in 1986. The company's newest product, gINT Enterprise, maximizes the value of centrally managed subsurface data through multi-project reporting and dramatically extended querying power. Offering a powerful and efficient solution for transportation operations, engineering consultancies, plants, campuses, and state and federal agencies with vast quantities of geotechnical data, gINT Enterprise facilitates the valuable reuse of subsurface mapping information to better serve civil, structural, geotechnical, and environmental information processes for owner-operators.

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