Bentley Systems, Incorporated has announced that it has acquired RAM International, LLC, a leading provider of structural engineering software for building structures made from all major materials, including steel and concrete.

RAM offerings include products for engineering modeling, analysis, and design. Bentley believes RAM is the most widely adopted software for these functions in the North American building industry. This acquisition follows Bentley's acquisition last month of the STAAD product line, a global leader also in structural design and analysis.

Commenting on the RAM acquisition, Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Bentley Software, said, "Recently we welcomed all STAAD users to the Bentley user community. Today, this community has expanded yet again, and we welcome all RAM International users. They will continue to get product support and services of the highest quality."

"Also, we are eager to advance RAM's entire product line, providing users with increasing capabilities," continued Cleveland. "But most exciting is the common vision that Bentley, RAM, and STAAD developers share - leveraging the power of analysis throughout the workflows of building, civil, and plant lifecycles. We are convinced that our results will be game-changing."

Bentley's vision for leveraging the power of analysis includes: integrating design and analysis in multiple disciplines, eliminating the information loss within engineering workflows, and embedding interactive, front-end analysis into design decisions. The company will hold a press and executive briefing on Thursday, January 5, 2006, at 11 a.m. EST to lay out that vision and introduce the new group appointed to achieve it.

Bentley will also detail product plans for the RAM and STAAD lines. Included in the briefing will be RAM International's founder and now vice president at Bentley, Michael Markovitz.