Only brand name trainers will do for Bentley

Bentley Europe has announced a training programme for its range of high-end CAD software products. The MicroStation Institute is a programme intended for fulfilment entirely by Bentley's resellers, of which there are about 60 in the UK.

The programme allows Vars to offer a whole curriculum of courses, once they are authorised as MicroStation Productivity Centres (MPCs). Bentley is assinging professional credentials to the end users who pass the courses, and will keep a registry of trained MicroStation users throughout Europe. The programme is structured to allow resellers to make a good margin on MicroStation training.

Sandra Shaughnessy, technical services director with Bentley, is heading the programme in the UK and throughout Europe. She said 'Many of our customers use Bentley software in mission critical applications.' She explained that to be authorised as an MPC, a Bentley partner they need at least one fully trained and certified instructor.

Partners operating as MPCs will need to provide training premises as part of their offer. A lesser accreditation of independent trainers, or MicroStation Institute Instructors (MIIs) are also being recruited. These will not be expected to operate training premises.