Bentley Systems has won a 2018 Microsoft Partner of the Year award with the company among a global field of top Microsoft partners for “demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of user solutions based on Microsoft technology.”
Winners chosen across 39 categories were chosen from more than 2,600 entrants from 115 countries worldwide. Bentley Systems said it was recognised for providing outstanding solutions and services in the CityNext Partner of the Year category.
“We are honored to have received this prestigious award which recognises Bentley as a provider of cloud-based software solutions powered by Azure, for the advancement of infrastructure projects throughout the world, and specifically for Mass Rapid Transit Corporation’s [MRTC] outstanding Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya [SSP] line in Malaysia,” said Bentley Systems’ CEO Greg Bentley. “MRTC is going digital, harnessing Bentley and Microsoft technology to deliver one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Asia.”
With more than 1.7 million people residing in just 94 square miles, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has one of the highest population densities globally. As a result, it is estimated that residents living in the Greater Klang Valley region collectively spend 280 million hours per year stuck in traffic, said Bentley Systems in a statement.
The SSP line is the second line of MRTC’s Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit railway project, which will create better mobility for residents and make it possible to ease traffic by an estimated 160,000 cars daily. As Malaysia’s largest infrastructure project, the SSP line includes 11 interchange stations, making it easier for commuters to transfer to existing and future rail lines, while 16 stations will have park and ride facilities. In addition to creating an estimated 130,000 new employment opportunities, the line has the potential to generate $5 billion in cost savings per year as a result of reduced traffic congestion.
The MRTC project team uses Bentley OpenRail’s connected data environment comprising the shared services of ProjectWise and AssetWise, powered by Microsoft Azure to ensure seamless information exchange, real-time collaboration, and management of asset information across the lifecycle, among hundreds of team members.
Poh Seng Tiok, director of planning and design for MRTC, noted that on a project of this scale and complexity, it is essential to effectively manage and share the huge amount of data across the entire project—from design and construction, through to operation and asset management.
“We need to make sure that all the different [project] phases are well covered and information that we build up during design, and during construction are taken forward during the operation and maintenance stage for better understanding,” said Poh. “By turning to the Bentley/Microsoft cloud-based solution, we are able to streamline collaboration across all teams and identify and mitigate potential issues, before they impact cost, schedule, and safety. We expect to increase productivity by about 35 percent, through reducing design rework by providing real-time, accurate information.”