• Survey across readership of leading civil engineering newsletter also reveals ease of use and multiplatform interoperability as top requirements for water resources modeling software
EXTON, PA, Oct. 3, 2007 -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that its Haestad Methods product line has been selected as the No. 1 water resources modeling software in a national survey. The survey, commissioned by Bentley, was conducted across the readership of CE News' Civil Connection, a leading civil engineering newsletter published by ZweigWhite. This follows on the heels of the People's Choice Award that Bentley's WaterGEMS product in its Haestad line won at the American Water Works Association Annual Conference and Exposition and is being celebrated by Bentley through special limited-time promotional offers.
The survey asked licensed civil engineering professionals employed by leading consulting engineering, survey, and construction firms and key public works departments, utilities, and municipalities about their software preferences in seven categories of water resources modeling software. Bentley's Haestad solutions earned the No. 1 position -- receiving up to more than three times the top responses of the closest competing products -- in the following five categories:
• Water distribution
• Transient analysis
• Wastewater conveyance
• Stormwater networks
• General hydraulics
In the detention pond category Intelisolve's product came in first, and in the floodplain modeling category the Hydrologic Engineering Center's (HEC's) product took the top position.
"It's gratifying to once again have users confirm Bentley's technology and market leadership as well as the value of Haestad Methods solutions in meeting their needs," said Charley Ferrucci, vice president, Bentley water asset solutions.
Added Ferrucci, "Though this survey confirms our first-place position among civil engineers, utilities, and municipalities only in the United States, we are also establishing this same leadership globally. Haestad Methods solutions are broadly available around the world, including in some of the fastest-growing economies such as China and India."
In the survey, Bentley's WaterCAD, WaterGEMS, HAMMER, SewerCAD, and SewerGEMS products in its Haestad line received more than three times the top responses of their closest competitors, among responses from water utilities and municipalities in the water distribution, transient analysis, and wastewater conveyance categories. Bentley's StormCAD and CivilStorm topped the stormwater networks category, as did its CulvertMaster and FlowMaster in the general hydraulics category. Bentley's PondPack came in second in the detention pond analysis category and its HEC-Pack came in third in the floodplain modeling category.
The survey respondents also said that ease of use is their foremost requirement for water resources modeling software, and that they found Bentley's Haestad Methods products to be the easiest to use. Said Ferrucci, "It comes as no surprise that ease of use is a top priority. Hydraulic modeling is complex by nature and can consume a great deal of an engineer's time. Our investment in usability improves productivity in all three critical stages of the modeling process: model building and setup, calibration, and results analysis. This means our users can spend more time doing what they know best: engineering."
Multiplatform interoperability across stand-alone, CAD, and GIS platforms was second in the survey respondents' list of must-have characteristics. When asked about their use of CAD, GIS, and stand-alone platforms for water resources modeling, 77 percent said they normally use at least two of these platforms simultaneously.
In explaining the critical importance of multiplatform interoperability to water resources projects, Thomas Walski, senior product manager for Bentley water products, said, "All of these projects require collaboration among people from different disciplines with preferences for different work environments.
"With our level of multiplatform interoperability, models work together no matter what platform they were created in; people work collaboratively, each in his or her preferred environment; and organizations work more efficiently by leveraging the skills of their specialists and their investments in technology. Moreover, there are no translation errors to contend with."
Walski continued, "On the other hand, organizations that choose a less interoperable platform are often forced to buy additional licenses of ArcGIS or AutoCAD just to run the model, to train modeling team members that are not familiar with the selected platform, and to deal with translation errors that increase costs and hamper project schedules."
To celebrate Haestad Methods solutions being selected as the No. 1 water resources modeling software, Bentley is offering, for a limited time, a 20 percent license-fee discount on all of the "No. 1 products" in its Haestad line. To learn more about this special promotion, visit www.bentley.com/CelebratingNumber1.
To view the complete survey results, visit www.cenews.com/bentleysystems.
ZweigWhite provides the business insight and expertise that helps architecture, engineering, and construction firms reach their potential. ZweigWhite was founded in the 1980s by management guru Mark Zweig, a pioneer in the improvement of business practice in professional service industries. Today, with offices in Boston, Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco, ZweigWhite is devoted exclusively to serving the business information needs of design and construction firms.
Civil Connection e-newsletter, CE News magazine, and CENews.com are specifically dedicated to "the business of civil engineering," serving the information needs of civil engineering professionals and firms, as well as county, state, and federal managers and engineers.
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.
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