Bentley Media Day Showcases MicroStation V8; 'V8 Generation' to Usher in New Era of Engineering Content Creation, Management and Publishing.

Business Editors

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2001

Bentley Systems, Incorporated today showcased MicroStation(R) V8 to journalists and industry analysts at its Media Day 2001, held at the company's world headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania.

MicroStation V8, a major milestone in the evolution of the company's flagship product, will be commercially released October 23, 2001, during a 90-minute event presented live in Philadelphia, PA and simulcast to 19 cities around the world.

The V8 Generation Signals a New Era

The V8 Generation ushers in a new era of effortless engineering content creation, management and publishing across the boundaries of file formats, project teams and time zones.

The value of content created with MicroStation is increased by the comprehensiveness of tightly integrated Bentley solutions that enable the leading engineering organizations in the world to better design, build and operate large-scale assets such as highways, stadiums, airports, buildings, power plants and manufacturing facilities.

MicroStation V8 provides a unified design environment for any project. There is no need to divide project teams or to re-train them based on file formats, because with V8, MicroStation is no longer tied to a single file format. MicroStation V8 will reference and edit AutoCAD(R) DWG files directly, making it the one tool that supports the world's two most popular CAD formats.

MicroStation V8's new design history feature can automatically maintain a complete change history in every DGN file, regardless of engineering discipline or application. Empowered with this knowledge, project managers can more accurately monitor progress, predict project success, and track project metrics such as ISO 9000 compliance.

MicroStation V8 includes hundreds of user- and application-level enhancements, including automatic referencing and unit conversion, project standards libraries, AccuSnap, AutoLocate, embedded XML, and support for the industry-standard Visual Basic(R) for Applications (VBA).

Bentley and GEOPAK Join Forces

The company announced the successful completion of an acquisition by merger of GEOPAK Corporation, continuing Bentley's leadership in civil engineering software solutions worldwide. Prior to the merger, Bentley distributed GEOPAK(R) products worldwide and owned a twenty-five percent stake in the company. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed.

Gabriel Norona, president and CEO of GEOPAK, becomes Bentley's senior vice president, Civil. He is responsible for Bentley's line of well-established and technically advanced civil engineering products including InRoads(R) and GEOPAK. All GEOPAK employees will continue in their positions, as will the rest of Bentley's Civil staff.

Bentley's Civil operations will be headquartered in Miami, with principal facilities in Alabama, France and Australia.

The combined R&D effort will be unmatched in the transportation industry and focused on providing the best technology for civil engineers worldwide.

Bentley Civil will continue to provide the complete range of GEOPAK and InRoads solutions for surveying, design and engineering, and construction, enhanced with services such as consulting, training, implementation, custom development and support for civil engineering.

MASTERSPEC(R) to be Integrated with Architecture for MicroStation(R)TriForma(R)

Bentley and ARCOM will work together to enable straight-through processing of specification data by integrating ARCOM's SPECWARE(R) software and the MASTERSPEC master specification system with Bentley's Architecture for MicroStation TriForma.

"MASTERSPEC is one of the AIA's most useful and valuable intellectual properties and is an industry standard in creating project specifications," said Norman L. Koonce, FAIA, Executive Vice President/CEO of The American Institute of Architects.

The automation of these integrally related processes will provide for improved speed and quality of the design documentation process. During construction, this will reduce costly mistakes resulting from data inconsistencies, such as incorrect products being ordered.

During the operation of a facility, the owner is aided by having access to this intelligent model during operations, maintenance and future renovations.

Bentley and Intergraph Sign Federal Distribution Pact

Bentley and Intergraph Government Solutions have signed an agreement that will insure the continued availability of Bentley products now listed on the Intergraph-maintained CAD-2 contract with the Federal government. Government agencies can now purchase Bentley products, services and training from Bentley's own GSA schedule.

Success Awards 2001

Users of Bentley software solutions engage in some of the finest engineering and architectural work in the world. Each year Bentley honors this extraordinary work with the Success Awards. Receiving a Success Award is a unique distinction that recognizes a project as the very best in the business, among peers, clients and customers.

This year, a record number of entries were received and winners were selected in 15 categories. For more information on the winning firms and their projects visit, www.bentley.com/successawards.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides the most comprehensive portfolio of solutions and professional services to the leading infrastructure engineering organizations around the world, including the majority of the ENR Top 500 Design Firms.

Since 1984, architects, engineers, builders and owner/operators have relied on these focused industry solutions that build upon Bentley MicroStation to help them effectively create, manage and publish engineering information critical to the profitable construction and management of complex assets.

One of the largest software companies in the world, Bentley's reach spans the globe, serving more than 300,000 professionals and more than 20,000 companies and organizations. For more information, call Bentley at [phone], or visit www.bentley.com.

For more information on all Bentley Media Day news, please visit http://www.bentley.com/pressroom/index.htm.

Bentley, the "B" logo, InRoads, MicroStation and TriForma are registered trademarks; is a trademark; and is a registered service mark of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or Bentley Software, Inc. GEOPAK is a registered trademark of GEOPAK Corporation. AutoCAD is a registered trademark of the Autodesk Corporation. MASTERSPEC is a registered trademark of The American Institute of Architects. SPECWARE is a registered trademark of ARCOM. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.