Bentley Unveils ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition; Latest ProjectWise Release Enables High-Performance Multisite Collaboration For AEC Project Teams Performing Distributed Engineering.

EXTON, Pa. -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced it has unveiled ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition, the latest release of the company's flagship collaboration server. With its new capabilities, ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition enables high-performance multisite collaboration among AEC project teams performing distributed engineering.

In particular, new ProjectWise features include local caching and enhanced digital security, for fast file access and secure workflows across distributed teams. These new capabilities apply to all ProjectWise core technologies or services, including document and content management, workflow management, content querying, distribution, and lifecycle asset management.

"Today's business realities demand that more and more AEC projects operate globally," said Bhupinder Singh, Bentley senior vice president of platform products. "Managers must bring together the best talent from all corners of the world. ProjectWise V8, with its new caching and security technologies, offers high-performance collaboration on building, civil, geospatial, and plant projects."

"This technology allows us to seamlessly connect the work of our 16 offices," said Jon Joseph, director of CADD services at Burgess & Niple, an engineering and architecture firm based in Columbus, Ohio. "Regardless of where our people are located, we can assemble the right team for any project."

Also, ProjectWise expands standardization opportunities provided by the newly released MicroStation V8 2004 Edition, extending these opportunities beyond the desktop to project teams performing distributed design and engineering.

Core technologies shared with MicroStation V8 - including digital security, printing and publishing, change management, standards administration, and customization - let organizations standardize a wide range of processes, including drafting and drawing, electronic delivery, proposal preparation, and more. Standardization makes processes more uniform and repeatable - allowing higher productivity, fewer errors, and faster delivery. Finally, standardization leads to increased agility, reuse of AEC content, and opportunities for new business.

Core technologies or services specific to ProjectWise are:

--Document and Content Management: Organizations can control document flow efficiently and automate document management, from production through storage, distribution, reuse, and archiving. ProjectWise stores and manages all types of AEC project content including DGN, DWG, and Adobe PDF files.

--Content Querying: Users can search, query, and navigate all AEC content - documents, components, and metadata - in database-like fashion. This service works across projects and operations, and on structured and unstructured content. Users can produce project-wide reports and statistics, or create ad hoc queries. ProjectWise searches distributed file servers and databases, not merely at the file and document level but at the level of their contents. It also indexes and navigates components and metadata. Users can query the intelligent relationships among components within a design, and follow intelligent links to related content such as change orders, specifications, and bid documents.

--Workflow: Organizations can manage document lifecycles from creation through approval. Users can define workflows, including ordered groups of milestones through which a document makes its way to completion. ProjectWise manages file operations for MicroStation, AutoCAD, and many domain-specific desktop applications, as well as Microsoft Office and some Adobe applications. This includes preserving reference attachments and managing related application-specific files--the key to interoperability among applications and the content they create. ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition also features improved Web functionality that allows users on extended teams to review and redline project documents. Faster file access is also achieved with local file caching.

--Distribution: Users can automate distribution of project documents on schedule or on demand. The service transforms content into standard digital delivery formats such as PDF and ensures that only authenticated team members have access. The orchestration of distribution jobs is scalable and can be distributed among available servers on the network. ProjectWise connector frameworks extend the service so that documents, metadata, and electronic renditions can be copied to content management or EDMS systems. This distribution system is powered by the optional incorporation of Bentley's publishing servers, delivered as Digital InterPlot and Bentley Publisher, as ProjectWise services.

--Lifecycle Management: Facility managers can track an organization's assets at the component level from deployment through operations, maintenance, renovation, and decommissioning. This service provides quick, easy access to all asset information, connects to other information systems such as ERP systems, and presents information through 2D or 3D displays or alphanumeric reports.

ProjectWise supports a managed environment for AEC IT. In a managed environment, valuable AEC information is confidently shared, synchronized, and secured; all data can be leveraged throughout an asset's lifecycle and on future projects. Fast-track projects can be managed better by ensuring that project teams can work on separate project tasks in parallel. And now, distributed design and engineering teams can achieve high-performance collaboration across multiple sites.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial vertical markets spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With 2003 revenues reaching $260 million, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Design 500 and major owner-operators.

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Bentley, the "B" logo, MicroStation, ProjectWise, V8 2004 Edition, Digital InterPlot, and Publisher are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or Bentley Software, Inc. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.