☰

City of Alpena, Michigan, Joins Bentley's Municipal License Subscription Program


    Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that the City of
    Alpena, Michigan, has joined Bentley's Municipal License Subscription
    (MLS) program. This community of 11,000 on Lake Huron's Thunder Bay
    will use its new MLS to help it implement road, water, sewer, and
    other infrastructure projects, as well as to build a 21st century GIS.

    Bentley's MLS offers municipalities all the software they need to
    design and manage all their infrastructure for a fixed annual fee
    based on population. The breakthrough program enables them to improve
    productivity and reduce administrative costs by outfitting their
    entire mapping and engineering organizations with fully integrated
    software for GIS and engineering workflows. This leads to improved
    services and more efficient government.

    Said Steve Shultz, assistant city engineer for Alpena, "Our
    engineering department has long used MicroStation, GEOPAK,
    MicroStation GeoGraphics, Bentley Water, Bentley Wastewater, and
    WaterCAD to design and manage the city's infrastructure with
    EarthTech, our sewer and water management contractor. However, in
    smaller cities such as ours, each extra piece of software has to be
    extensively justified and its efficiency tracked. This has limited our
    ability to build out the Bentley software functionality we would like
    to have in our technology toolbox.

    "With our new MLS, we can access all the software we need for a
    very attractive price with no procurement hassles. Already, we have
    benefited from access to new software packages such as Bentley Fiber,
    which we expect to deploy shortly to support the building of a fiber
    optic network."

    Continued Shultz, "We are also planning to deploy Bentley
    Geospatial Management so that we can interact with our subcontractors
    more effectively and share data with the County in the future.
    Although not all the software used by those we interact with is
    Bentley software, Geospatial Management is able to handle all file
    types, including ESRI SHP files. As a result, we are expecting a huge
    increase in productivity as files and projects are exchanged or shared
    across different organizations."

    Bentley's MLS program provides municipalities with unlimited
    access to a comprehensive portfolio of integrated GIS and engineering
    software for all of their infrastructure, including:

    -- Public works - roads, bridges, water, sewer, and storm

    -- Land development

    -- E-government

    -- Light rail design

    -- Community broadband

    -- Water and wastewater treatment plant design

    -- Urban planning

    -- Cadastre management

    -- Public safety

    -- Municipal building design

    -- Mapping and 3D modeling

    Because the program's fee is fixed, Bentley's MLS guarantees
    predictable software costs and budgeting. In addition, it removes the
    administrative burden of complex software licenses, shortens
    procurement cycles, speeds project starts, and ultimately leads to
    more efficient government.

    Said Shultz, "With our MLS, not only are we able to cap our annual
    software costs, but we also can start new projects and complete them
    more quickly and cost effectively. For example, we plan to deploy
    SewerCAD to help document our sewer network. Once this is digitized,
    we will be able to do away with expensive and difficult-to-manage
    paper trails. All those developing and managing the sewer network will
    be able to access the network data and edit it in real time. We expect
    this to reduce costs and save a lot of time."

    For more information about Bentley's MLS program initiative and
    software or to contact a Bentley representative, visit
    www.bentley.com/MLS.

    About the City of Alpena

    Incorporated in 1871, the City of Alpena overlooks Lake Huron's
    picturesque Thunder Bay. The wood, cement, and heavy machinery
    industries of Alpena stemmed from a long industrial heritage that
    started with logging in the 1800s. Besides these industries, Alpena
    offers to the public an abundance of businesses, along with a
    community college and a regional medical center. Throughout the 8.93
    square miles that make up the City of Alpena are many inviting
    residential areas and recreational activities for its more than 11,000
    residents and visitors to continuously enjoy. For more information,
    visit www.alpena.mi.us.

    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 verticals spans
    architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With
    2005 revenues of $336 million and more than 2000 colleagues around the
    world, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the
    Engineering News-Record Top 500 Design Firms and major owner-operators
    and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software
    solutions in a recent Daratech research study.

    To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit
    www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit
    www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's May 2006 Annual Report
    online, go to www.bentley.com/May2006annualreport.

    Bentley, the "B" logo, Municipal License Subscription,
    MicroStation, GEOPAK, MicroStation GeoGraphics, Bentley Water, Bentley
    Wastewater, WaterCAD, Bentley Fiber, Bentley Geospatial Management,
    and SewerCAD 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.