Bentley Enhances SELECT; Innovative Annual License Exchange Opportunity Leads List of Nine Key Subscription Offerings
At this gathering of more than 2,000 attendees, Bentley
Systems, Incorporated previewed its enhanced SELECT subscription
program. The program, which will be available September 1, 2006,
provides three new offerings - nine in total - exclusively to SELECT
subscribers. It offers organizations comprehensive investment
protection for Bentley software, team productivity, and engineering
information.
The new SELECT offerings are: an annual license exchange that
enables users to rebalance their technology portfolio for optimum
productivity in the year ahead, OnDemand eLearning resources to
improve user performance and productivity, and a ProjectWise user
subscription to help extend the reach of content across a distributed
enterprise.
Each of SELECT's nine offerings provides sufficient reason to
subscribe:
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1. Annual license exchange
2. Pooled and trust licensing
3. Continuous product development and updates
4. OnDemand eLearning
5. BE Conference registration
6. Help desk
7. ProjectWise user subscription
8. Additional software to extend the enterprise
9. SELECT membership in the Bentley Developer Network
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Annual license exchange
Annual license exchange, a new benefit of SELECT and an industry
first, protects an organization's investment in Bentley software. It
does this by providing subscribers with the opportunity to rebalance
their technology portfolio for optimum productivity in the year ahead.
Software licenses can be exchanged to:
-- Accommodate changing business requirements
-- Replace underutilized licenses
-- Trade up and adopt technology new to the market
This opportunity occurs each year on the anniversary of an
organization's SELECT subscription. As an added benefit, the assigned
value of any software exchanged is at the current list price, rather
than the cost at time of acquisition.
Pooled and trust licensing
SELECT provides subscribers with the ability to maximize license
utilization and minimize the burden of administration through pooled
and trust licensing.
With pooling, licenses are made available to any user when needed;
the licenses are stored on a server rather than being permanently
assigned to individual computers. Therefore, all licenses are
available for use by the entire team more of the time, leading to much
higher utilization rates and a greater return on investment (ROI).
Subscribing organizations report that in a pooled license scenario,
each license is typically used by more than 1.5 employees, further
increasing the ROI.
Trust licensing, introduced with the release of SELECT Server XM,
records product sessions on the desktop, and compiles license
utilization reports on the server. This enables CIOs and IT directors
to balance the technology portfolio to provide optimum coverage to the
organization.
With trust licensing, disconnected users need only connect to
SELECT Server XM once every 30 days to be granted a right to run. The
benefits are:
-- Users can always access project tools and content to get the
work done
-- SELECT Server reports provide valuable and necessary insight
for managers
-- Licensing is made simple for users and administrators
Continuous product development and updates
Technology trends move quickly, often driven by the user's own
business requirements. Bentley works continuously to refine and
improve all software products to meet the most demanding business
needs. In 2005, for example, Bentley issued more than 750 updates for
MicroStation, ProjectWise, and other products in its comprehensive
portfolio. Bentley SELECT subscribers can take advantage of these
improvements the moment they are made available via the SELECT
Services Web site.
Clear and immediate benefits to maintaining current versions of
software include:
-- Increased performance and productivity for the entire team
-- Enhanced compatibility with other software versions
-- Technology that is always aligned with current business
requirements
Bentley is also committed to improving the process of installing
updates. Starting with the V8 XM editions, new incremental updates
will use a service pack approach to ensure enhancements and the path
to rapid adoption are all gain and no pain.
All software updates are available on demand from the SELECT
Services Web site. They can be acquired either through a download or
by configuring online a customized MySELECT CD.
OnDemand eLearning
Also new to the SELECT program is self-paced OnDemand eLearning
for MicroStation. With this approach to professional training, users
can learn new skills or fine-tune existing ones without leaving their
desks. The two most popular Bentley Institute courses on MicroStation
are included:
-- "Moving to MicroStation"
-- "MicroStation V8 XM User Update (J to V8 XM and 2004 to V8
XM)"
The OnDemand eLearning courses allow users to familiarize
themselves with MicroStation and begin working productively, even if
it is their first day on the job. They also serve as a helpful point
of reference for more experienced users. And, because the material is
self-paced and always available, organizations can train new members
of the team faster, to better ensure the quality and consistency of
the work produced.
BE Conference registration
Staying current with industry trends is critical for professionals
who work to improve the world's infrastructure.
The BE Conference, which consistently scores a 99 percent attendee
satisfaction rating, is a once-a-year learning opportunity for Bentley
users and their managers offering professional training, technology
updates, keynotes, and best practice sharing. At these sessions,
attendees better themselves and better their organizations.
For more information on BE Conference 2006, taking place this week
in Charlotte, N.C., go to www.be.org.
Help desk - 24/7 technical support
SELECT subscribers are always just a click or call away from
world-class technical support directly from Bentley. The help desk is
the user's always-available resource center, with analysts providing
solutions for users via e-mail, Web chat, and online FAQs.
Importantly, Bentley also provides 24/7 technical support via
telephone in 15 languages.
ProjectWise user subscription
For new and renewed SELECT agreements, a ProjectWise Named User
license subscription is included with each MicroStation license
covered by SELECT.
ProjectWise is a system of collaboration servers that enables
distributed enterprises and related organizations to successfully
deliver infrastructure projects. Its core capabilities allow users to
manage, find, and share CAD and geospatial content.
ProjectWise StartPoint provides an entry-level collaboration tool,
while ProjectWise Integration Server provides federated content
management. ProjectWise also includes servers for caching data in
multiple locations, for managing and automating plotting and
publishing, and for connecting with enterprise systems.
For more information, go to www.bentley.com/Products/ProjectWise.
Additional software to extend the enterprise
SELECT provides software extensions for MicroStation to extend the
relevance of data created. It also provides additional software to
extend the downstream reach of data created with Bentley applications.
Software available at no additional cost to SELECT subscribers
includes:
-- Bentley Redline, a comprehensive CAD file viewer for DGN and
DWG files that empowers users to print to scale and to comment
on and mark up project data as part of the review and sign-off
process. SELECT subscribers and their sponsored members are
eligible to download Bentley Redline.
-- SELECT Server XM enables teams to manage licenses via a
central pool for each site.
-- MicroStation Extensions provide users with additional
functionality and productivity-enhancing toolsets specific to
their verticals. There are extensions for building, plant,
civil, and geospatial professionals.
In addition, Bentley offers Bentley View to anyone via a no-charge
download from http://www.bentley.com/bentleyview. This application
allows anyone in a user's extended team to view and print both
MicroStation DGN and DWG drawings and models.
SELECT membership in the Bentley Developer Network
SELECT membership in the Bentley Developer Network (BDN) provides
subscribers with programming resources to aid the development and
testing of software products that complement Bentley technologies and
increase productivity.
Pricing and availability
Beginning September 1, 2006, organizations currently on SELECT may
elect to take advantage of the enhanced SELECT early. Otherwise,
renewal will occur as normal on the agreement's next anniversary.
Annual SELECT subscription fees are charged as a percentage of the
list price of the products that are covered, and start at 15 percent.
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 2,000 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.
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 June 2005 Annual Report
online, go to www.bentley.com/june2005annualreport.
Bentley, the "B" logo, BE, MicroStation, ProjectWise, ProjectWise
StartPoint, SELECT, ProjectWise Named User license, Bentley Redline,
Bentley Institute, OnDemand eLearning, SELECT XM Server, Bentley
Developer Network, and MicroStation Extensions are either registered
or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems,
Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned
subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their
respective owners.