Bentley Systems Makes Strategic Investment to Advance SITEOPS Land Development Optimization Technology

EXTON, Pa., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced that it has acquired a minority interest in Charlotte, N.C.-based BLUERIDGE Analytics, Inc., provider of SITEOPS – breakthrough site design optimization technology that utilizes cloud computing to save substantial time and cost while improving land development outcomes. SITEOPS, a patented web-based application, empowers civil engineering professionals, real estate developers, and land planners to quickly perform site configuration simulations, produce preliminary cost estimates, optimize site designs, and reduce overall costs. The conceptual designs are compatible with DGN, DWG, LandXML, and other file formats, so they can be easily exported into software such as Bentley's MicroStation, Power InRoads, and Power GEOPAK for final design work. Among owner-operators and retailers benefiting from SITEOPS' many capabilities are Lowe's Companies, Inc. and Target.

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Joseph Viscuso, vice president, Stantec, a leading provider of professional consulting services for infrastructure and facilities projects, said, "We were introduced to SITEOPS by some of our commercial clients, including Lowe's Companies, and a number of them now mandate its use on their projects. SITEOPS provides a much more reliable starting point for site design – one that allows you to consider grading options in the early stages of a project rather than six months or even a year or two out, which is the norm with traditional approaches. It also gives you early cost estimating data, along with the ability to look at five, ten, even twenty design alternatives. This means you can work with a client in making some really good siting and grading choices up front that can both shorten development time and reduce development costs."

Viscuso added, "So we are happy to see Bentley make this investment and look forward to working with them in moving site design in a completely new direction. Moreover, as a longtime user of Bentley's solutions and products, we look forward to leveraging interactive workflows among SITEOPS and our Bentley civil engineering tools."

Mike Detwiler, president and CEO, BLUERIDGE Analytics, said, "We are extremely pleased to have Bentley Systems, a recognized global leader in software for sustaining infrastructure, as our largest shareholder. Bentley's decision to make a significant investment in our company and help support our ongoing development work validates the tremendous potential of our cloud-based land development technology."

"This is an intriguing investment for us," Greg Bentley, CEO, Bentley Systems, said. "As we advance information modeling for intelligent infrastructure, by way of integrated projects, what I call 'simulation towards optimization' is increasingly key. SITEOPS shows that a well-structured challenge such as site development can truly be made a science. Though SITEOPS is still in the early adoption stage, the resourceful team at BLUERIDGE Analytics has more than proven its potential in just a few short years. Already, evolutionary computing applied to land development now sets the new standard for preliminary site design performance. Equally important, the company's management team has demonstrated a viable cloud computing business model that many of us can learn from and perhaps help extend."

SITEOPS addresses the challenges associated with conventional land development processes by systematically considering millions of layout, grading, and drainage options for a site within hours instead of months. Engineers are thus empowered to produce conceptual designs faster and present more options to land developers. Through its powerful evolutionary computing techniques, SITEOPS can save a significant proportion of site development costs.

Products include SITEOPS Multi Pad for conceptual site design and SITEOPS Design for rapid site selection assessments and conceptual layouts. For additional information, visit www.siteops.com.

To facilitate information sharing among SITEOPS and Bentley users, Bentley will add a SITEOPS user community to its Be Communities professional networking site at http://communities.bentley.com.

About BLUERIDGE Analytics, Inc.

BLUERIDGE Analytics, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. The privately held company provides SITEOPS, patented optimization technology for the land development industry. SITEOPS is available through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Internet-based delivery model. Clients include Lowe's Companies, Inc.; Target; Stantec; SSFM International; Jafza; Hendrick Automotive Group; Langan Engineering & Environmental Services; and Woolpert, Inc. For additional information about BLUERIDGE Analytics and SITEOPS, visit www.siteops.com or contact Jennifer Gaddy, +1 704 409 7508 or [email protected].

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries, $500 million in annual revenues, and, since 1999, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com. To view Bentley's May 2010 Annual Report, visit www.bentley.com/annualreport. To subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts, visit www.bentley.com/rss/news. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, visit www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure. For information about Be Communities, a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit http://communities.bentley.com.

Bentley, the "B" Bentley logo, Be, MicroStation, Power InRoads, and Power GEOPAK 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.

SOURCE Bentley Systems, Incorporated