Bentley announces shipment of MicroStation GeoGraphics; Full-featured GIS product centerpiece of company's multi-faceted GeoEngineering initiative.

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Co.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 1996--Bentley Systems, Inc., here at the just completed Executive GeoEngineering Summit, announced that it will begin shipment of the MicroStation GeoGraphics(TM) product later this month.

The full-featured geographic information system (GIS) and mapping product, is the centerpiece of the company's multi-faceted initiative targeting the fast developing market of unified engineering and planning, called GeoEngineering.

Many, if not most, users of GIS also have critical engineering needs and data. For example, city and land planners use engineering maps to perform GIS analysis. However, existing GIS systems operate distinct from computer-aided design (CAD) systems, forcing users to maintain two separate systems and databases. In MicroStation GeoGraphics, Bentley fully integrated its market-leading computer-aided design (CAD) technologies with the new product's GIS capabilities, thus offering the industry's first GeoEngineering solution.

Yoav Etiel, vice president of product marketing at Bentley, comments, "CAD and GIS both offer wonderful benefits but the wall between them is painfully expensive, counter-productive, and now outdated. Clearly, user organizations want integrated CAD and GIS, planners want engineering accuracy, and engineers want planning and mapping capability." He continues, "This new unified world of GeoEngineering is full of opportunity for users, consultants, and value-added resellers. We've assembled a complete plan, spearheaded by MicroStation GeoGraphics, to make sure that our team is leading this market."

MicroStation GeoGraphics offers GIS capability to input, manage, analyze, and output vector- and raster-based geographical information. It includes easy-to-use thematic mapping, map features, spatial analysis, image management, plotting, and geometry clean-up. Powerful database and ODBC tools allow users to maintain links between map features and databases such as Microsoft Access(R), Microsoft SQL Server(R), Oracle and Informix.

As MicroStation GeoGraphics is based on the popular MicroStation(R) architecture, it inherits a host of proven technologies that other GIS products will find hard to match. The underlying graphics environment, for example, contains a complete set of high precision tools, including publication quality fonts, for creating high quality maps. The product also leverages the state-of-the-art user interface, visualization, imaging, programming, data management, and multi-platform capabilities of MicroStation.

Besides offering the user functionality of MicroStation GeoGraphics, Bentley is driving the GeoEngineering initiative in several key areas. Specifically, the company will take a leadership role in value-added marketing, programmability, and pricing. Also, Bentley announced that it will expand its GeoEngineering capabilities through a strategic affiliation with GEOPAK, a leading provider of civil engineering products. The initiative was successfully launched here at the first-ever Executive GeoEngineering Summit, where a capacity crowd of over 65 analysts, editors, professors, and executives from GIS and engineering applauded and joined in the efforts.

Etiel comments, "In the 80's, certain things in CAD caused a major market expansion. To wit, it was full programmability, high quality value-added applications, and desktop prices that led the charge. We are now creating similar dynamics in GIS and believe that 1996 will be marked by considerable GIS market growth, much of it driven by GeoEngineering."

Bentley is now recruiting and assisting leading consultants and resellers at developing MicroStation GeoGraphics applications and customizations. Already, more than forty independent software vendors (ISVs) have signed on to provide applications for MicroStation GeoGraphics. Industry analysts consistently report that over 30 percent of GIS industry revenue comes from service, underscoring the pressing need for these value-added applications and customizations.

The powerful programmability of MicroStation GeoGraphics is provided by the MDL(TM) and MicroStation BASIC programming environments. The MDL environment provides API access to over 2500 functions, 350 specific to GIS. Therefore, MicroStation GeoGraphics serves as both an end-user tool and as a development platform for applications and customizations.

MicroStation is already widely-used for mapping tasks in companies and agencies. In fact, over 25 percent of registered users are employing MicroStation 95 for mapping or GIS-related functions. The expanded GIS product has been beta tested at over 400 experienced sites throughout the world.

MicroStation GeoGraphics is compatible with the range of MicroStation products, sharing the same look and feel and file formats. It also works well in concert with older systems such as the MGE suite of applications from Intergraph Corporation. MicroStation GeoGraphics can read and write MGE files and is designed to coexist with and supplement installations of these systems.

Like other MicroStation products, MicroStation GeoGraphics offers users their choice of platforms including DOS, Windows(TM), OS/2, Windows NT(TM) for Intel-based and DEC Alpha AXP computers, the Macintosh and Power Macintosh, Sun SPARC, HP RISC, SGI, Intergraph Clipper, and the IBM RS series machines. MicroStation GeoGraphics, which includes all MicroStation 95 functionality, the new GIS capabilities, and the MDL libraries, is priced at $5325 U.S. Upgrades for MicroStation 95 users are $1650 U.S.

For more information on MicroStation GeoGraphics, GeoEngineering, or Bentley, please contact Bentley at 1-800-BENTLEY, [phone] (US), [phone] (Europe), [phone] (Asia), via e-mail at [e-mail], or through the World Wide Web at http://www.bentley.com/.

More on GeoEngineering Users

A GIS is based on the concept of using geography as the common denominator for linking data. These systems support the acquisition, management, analysis and presentation of this spatially referenced data as well as its connection with textual data from multiple databases. Dataquest forecasts 1996 GIS software revenue of over $1B.

User organizations with GIS and engineering needs in their lifecycle include utility companies in the management of their field assets, state and local governments in land planning, transportation agencies and companies in planning and asset management, and forestry and environmental agencies in land analysis. Also, as building engineering and architectural firms are becoming more responsible for site planning, they too have growing need for GeoEngineering.

More on Bentley

Bentley Systems, Inc. is a worldwide leader in engineering software products, user services, and overall quality. The company now serves over 200,000 professionals in building/plant engineering, GeoEngineering, and mechanical engineering. Its MicroStation products are proven at over 70% of the largest U.S. engineering firms and are the software foundation behind the engineering of well-known buildings, airports, hospitals, highways, machines, bridges, and industrial plants throughout the world. Founded in 1984, Bentley has now become one of the world's fastest growing software companies. -0-

MicroStation is a registered trademark; Bentley, MicroStation GeoGraphics, and MDL are trademarks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server are registered trademarks; and Windows and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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