Dataquest confirms Bentley strength on WindowsNT.

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 1997--

Engineering Software Provider Outsizes Autodesk and ESRI On Popular

Operating System

Bentley Systems, Inc., today announced that market research firm Dataquest, Inc., in their 1996 CAD/CAM/CAE/GIS Software Market

Share Report, placed Bentley ahead of Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) in revenues from sales of software for Windows NT(R). Showing 1996 growth of 41 percent over 1995, Bentley outsized Autodesk in revenues on sales of software for the increasingly popular 32-bit operating system in all three major markets AEC, GIS, and mechanical.

Yoav Etiel, senior vice president of marketing at Bentley, comments, "Engineering organizations that typically deploy our products on large projects demand high performance, reliability, and scaleability." He adds, "MicroStation on Windows NT is a combination which lives up to those high standards."

For the three markets, Dataquest listed 1996 revenues for Bentley on Windows NT of $52.4M while Autodesk had $13.9M. Bentley also outsized GIS-specialist ESRI in its market.

Bentley expects continued strong growth in revenue from software for Windows NT. The operating system is becoming more popular among MicroStation(R) desktop users and Windows NT is an excellent platform for the company's new line of ModelServer(TM) products. The first server products in the engineering software market, ModelServers are a part of Bentley's innovative Engineering Back Office(TM) strategy and enable engineering groups to share information with their extended enterprise.

For more information on, please contact the company at 1-800-BENTLEY, +1 610-458-5000 (US), +31 23-556-0560 (Europe), +61 3-9699-8699 (Asia), through E-mail at jen.mcwilliams@bentley.com, or through http://www.bentley.com.

More on Bentley

Bentley Systems, Inc., is a worldwide leader in engineering software and user services. The company now serves over 250,000 professionals in building/plant engineering, geoengineering, and mechanical engineering. Its MicroStation desktop products are proven at over 70% of the largest U.S. engineering firms and are the software foundation of well-known buildings, roadways, machines, and industrial plants around the world. Its new line of Internet/intranet-based ModelServer products is the first to unite engineering and the enterprise. With revenues now over $120M annually, Bentley was listed as the fourth fastest growing company on the 1996 Softletter 100 and awarded 1996 Growth Company of the Year by the Eastern Technology Council. -0-

MicroStation is a registered trademark; ModelServer, Engineering Back Office and Bentley are trademarks of Bentley Systems, Inc. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Michelle Allard

Boston Communications

617/247-1112

mallard@bcomm.com