I write this en route to the BE Conference in Charlotte, the annual Bentley user conference and extravaganza. This is the only CAD user conference I know that has a “black tie optional” event, the BE Awards Gala on Monday night. (Imagine such a dress code at an Autodesk users event, where the AUGI Dog hands out mugs of beer.) Bentley is an East Coast company, far removed from Silicon Valley by both geography and attitude.
Bentley has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, with a fast-paced series of acquisitions. The most recent involved structural engineering, as Bentley has acquired the structural engineering assets of both the RAM International and STAAD product lines. I’m looking forward to discovering what Bentley has planned for these two complimentary product lines in regards to their “integrated engineering” initiative.
There are other areas of interest at Bentley I want to explore next week, including:
- The status of Generative Components, Bentley’s technology for “blobby architecture.”
- The potential of Bentley’s new ProjectWise StartPoint, which brings Microsoft SharePoint Web technology to electronic document management for CAD. My old buddy, Joe Croser, formerly a UK architectural consultant and now a Bentley employee, thinks it “bridges a very important gap in the market.” I’ll take a look and see if I agree.
- The transition to a unified Civil Engineering product line. A series of acquisitions starting in 1999 and continuing into this decade gave Bentley the lion’s share of the highway design market—and a nightmare of competitive product lines to manage.
- The customer perception of continued commitment to the AutoCAD-based users of AutoPlant.
- Any shifts in technology or strategy from Bentley’s Geospatial unit in light of Google Earth’s plans for world domination (near pun intended).
This year Bentley is holding two BE conferences, one in the US and a second in June in Prague. I have always enjoyed the international feel of Bentley’s events, and I’m wondering what will change this year.
--RSN