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workM8 and Optus Extend Partnership to Deliver Connected IoT Operations Across Australia

SYDNEY, 28 July 2026 — Australian IoT software company, workM8, has extended its partnership with Optus, with its vehicle telematics and workflow automation platform selected to power an Optus-branded solution for enterprise and government organisations across Australia.

The expanded agreement builds on a strong and growing relationship between the two organisations, reflecting a shared commitment to helping Australian organisations move beyond siloed tracking tools toward connected, data-driven operations.

At the heart of the partnership is the workM8 platform, a device- and network-agnostic SaaS environment that enables organisations to connect vehicles, people, assets and sensors regardless of hardware vendor or connectivity type. 

Rather than being constrained by a single device ecosystem, customers can integrate data from a wide range of sources including vehicles and telematics systems, battery and solar-powered trackers, field devices and safety wearables, sensors and equipment, and OEM and third-party IoT sources.

The platform’s core value lies in what organisations can do with that data once it is connected. workM8 enables enterprise and government customers to design and customise operational workflows triggered by IoT data, moving from passive monitoring to real-time operational intelligence. Applications include safety escalations triggered by field events, automated compliance processes, asset utilisation workflows, site presence verification and incident detection and response.

workM8 Co-Founder, Matthew Fitzgerald, said the partnership with Optus represented a significant milestone for the business and for the Australian IoT market.

“This agreement reflects the growing demand from enterprise and government organisations for a platform that works with any device, on any network, and delivers meaningful operational outcomes from that data,” he said. 

“The workM8 platform continues to provide Optus customers the flexibility to connect whatever hardware suits their environment and address multiple business requirements from vehicle telematics to Lone worker safety, Environmental monitoring to asset tracking. We are proud to be powering that capability under the Optus brand.”

As a 100% Australian-owned business, the extended partnership underscores workM8’s commitment to delivering flexible, future-ready technology that allows organisations to adapt, scale and innovate without being constrained by hardware or network choices.

About workM8

workM8 is an Australian IoT workflow automation platform built for enterprise and government organisations operating in the field. Founded in 2016 and based in Sutherland Shire, NSW, workM8 connects any device over any network — including 4G, satellite, LoRaWAN, BLE and NFC — and provides a no-code workflow builder for configuring automated responses to real-world operational conditions. The platform powers vehicle tracking, asset tracking, lone worker safety, digital forms, environmental monitoring and lift monitoring for hundreds of customers across Australia. workM8 is also the white-label IoT platform of choice for mobile network operators, systems integrators and technology resellers.

For more information visit workm8.io

About Optus

Optus is Australia’s second largest telecommunications provider, delivering mobile, broadband, satellite and IoT connectivity solutions to consumers, businesses and government organisations across Australia. Optus Business serves enterprise and government customers with a comprehensive portfolio of connectivity, managed services and technology solutions.

For more information visit optus.com.au

What Is an IoT Workflow Automation Platform?

You might already have sensors on your vehicles, trackers on your equipment, or monitors on your cold rooms. You might even have a dashboard showing you all that data in real time. 

But here is a question worth sitting with: when something goes wrong, does your system do anything about it, or does it wait for a person to notice?

That gap between data and action is exactly what an IoT workflow automation platform is designed to close. 

The IoT sector is forecast to generate up to $12.6 trillion in global economic value by 2030, and the majority of that value comes not from collecting data, but from acting on it.

This post explains what an IoT workflow automation platform actually is, how it differs from the point solutions many organisations use today, and what to look for if you are evaluating one.

The Difference Between IoT Data Collection and IoT Automation

Most IoT deployments start with data collection. Sensors report readings, GPS trackers update locations, environmental monitors log temperature and humidity. The data flows into a dashboard and someone checks it periodically and decides what to do.

That is useful. But it is not automation.

Automation is what happens when the system itself responds to conditions. 

Imagine a temperature sensor in a pharmaceutical cold room detecting a threshold breach that then immediately alerts the on-call technician, logs the event for compliance and sends a work order to the maintenance team, all without anyone watching a screen. 

The trigger happens and a chain of configured actions follows.

The distinction matters because manual monitoring does not scale. One person can watch one dashboard. They cannot watch twelve simultaneously, and they certainly cannot respond at 3am with the same reliability a configured system can.

What Does a Workflow Automation Platform Actually Do?

Think of it like a set of rules running continuously in the background. 

If a vehicle leaves a geo-fenced zone after hours, send an alert to the fleet manager and log the event. If a worker on a remote mine site misses a lone worker safety check-in, escalate automatically to their supervisor. If a dust sensor exceeds its PM10 threshold on a construction site, notify the site safety officer and trigger a dust suppression workflow.

The platform sits between your devices and your people, translating raw data into meaningful actions. It does not replace human judgement. It handles the routine monitoring and initial responses so that human attention is reserved for situations that genuinely need it.

Three things happen on a well-configured platform:

  • Devices Connect: GPS trackers, BLE tags, environmental sensors, mobile phones and cameras, communicating over 4G, satellite, LoRaWAN or Wi-Fi
  • Rules Fire: Thresholds, schedules or location triggers activate configured workflows automatically
  • Actions Follow: Alerts, reports, form submissions, dashboard updates or integrations with external systems like SAP or Salesforce

The Four Core Components Every IoT Platform Should Have

It’s important to understand that not all platforms are built the same. When evaluating one, look for these four capabilities.

Connectivity Layer

The platform needs to support the hardware you are already using, or plan to use. Different environments need different networks. A mine site underground needs BLE beacons. A remote agricultural property needs satellite. A construction site uses 4G. A good platform handles all of them without requiring separate systems for each.

Workflow Engine

This is the engine room. It is where you configure what happens when a condition is met. The best platforms offer a no-code builder, a visual drag-and-drop interface that lets operations teams set up and adjust workflows without writing code or involving IT every time a rule needs changing.

Dashboards and Reporting

Real-time visibility across all your devices and sites. Not just raw data, but configurable views that show the information relevant to each role. A fleet manager needs different visibility to a site safety officer.

Integrations

A platform that sits in isolation is limited. The most valuable deployments push data into the systems organisations already rely on, including ERP systems, maintenance platforms and compliance reporting software. This is where IoT moves from interesting to operationally useful.

IoT Platform vs Point Solution: Why It Matters

This is where many organisations realise they have a problem.

A point solution usually does one thing well. For example a vehicle tracking tool tracks vehicles, a lone worker app manages check-ins, and an environmental sensor dashboard monitors air quality. 

Each works as advertised. But when an organisation needs all three, which most field-operations businesses do, they end up with three separate systems, three subscriptions, three sets of login credentials and three different places to look when something goes wrong.

The data never talks to each other. A vehicle enters a geo-fenced hazardous zone, but the lone worker system has no awareness of it. A dust threshold breach occurs near where workers are operating, but the safety team is monitoring a different screen.

An IoT workflow automation platform brings all of this into a single environment. One login. One dashboard. One set of configured rules that can reference data across every connected device and system.

The cost of managing multiple point solutions also compounds over time: more vendor relationships, more integration maintenance, more staff training and more opportunity for critical information to fall through the gaps between systems.

Point SolutionIoT Platform
Use Cases Covered OneMany
Data visibilitySiloedUnified
Vendor relationshipsOne per toolSingle Provider
Workflow automationLimited or noneConfigurable across all data
ScalabilityRebuild per use caseAdd use cases on existing foundation

What to Look for When Choosing an IoT Workflow Automation Platform

A few questions worth asking any vendor before committing.

  • Is it hardware-agnostic? If a platform only works with its own devices, you are trading one lock-in for another. A genuinely device-agnostic platform lets you connect hardware from multiple manufacturers and swap devices as technology evolves.
  • Can non-technical teams configure it? If every workflow change requires a developer, the platform will never adapt as quickly as your operations do. Look for a no-code workflow builder that puts configuration in the hands of the people who understand the business.
  • Does it handle multiple connectivity types? 4G works in most locations. Satellite covers remote sites. LoRaWAN, a low-power wide-area network suited to sensors in remote environments, handles long-range deployments. BLE works for indoor positioning. The right platform supports all of these.
  • What does the integration story look like? Ask specifically about the systems you already use. A platform with a robust REST API and pre-built connectors for common enterprise systems will cost less to deploy than one requiring custom development for every integration.
  • Can it scale across multiple sites? Multi-site operations need centralised visibility with the ability to configure rules per site. Make sure the platform is built for this from the ground up, not retrofitted.

How workM8 Fits in

workM8 is an IoT workflow automation platform built for enterprise and government organisations operating in the field. It connects any device over any network, including 4G, satellite, LoRaWAN, BLE and NFC, and provides a no-code workflow builder for configuring automated responses to the conditions that matter to your operation.

In practice, this means a single platform can manage vehicle tracking across a mixed fleet, lone worker safety for field teams in remote or hazardous environments, environmental monitoring across multiple sites, and digital forms that trigger automatically when workers enter a geo-fenced area. Each draws on the same data layer, the same workflow engine and the same dashboard, without adding new vendors or logins.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between an IoT Platform and IoT Software?

IoT software typically refers to a specific application, such as a fleet tracking tool or a sensor dashboard. An IoT platform is the underlying infrastructure that connects devices, processes data and enables workflows across multiple use cases from a single environment.

Do I Need a Developer to Set Up an IoT Workflow Automation Platform?

Not with a well-designed platform. A no-code workflow builder allows operations managers and IT teams to configure rules, alerts and integrations without writing code. More complex enterprise integrations may involve some development work, but day-to-day configuration should not.

Can an IoT Platform Work With the Hardware I Already Have?

A device-agnostic platform can. It should connect existing hardware regardless of manufacturer, as long as the device communicates over a supported network protocol. Always confirm this before committing to a platform.

What Connectivity Types Does an IoT Platform Need to Support?

It depends on your environment. 4G covers most urban and regional sites. Satellite handles truly remote locations. LoRaWAN suits long-range, low-power sensor deployments. BLE works for indoor positioning. A platform supporting all of these gives you flexibility as operations grow.

How Is an IoT Workflow Automation Platform Different From a SCADA System?

SCADA systems are traditionally built for industrial control, managing machinery and plant equipment in fixed environments. IoT workflow automation platforms are designed for broader operational use cases, are typically cloud-based, support mobile devices and field workers, and integrate with enterprise business systems. The two can coexist and complement each other.

Ready to see how workM8 works in practice? Book a demo and we will show you how the platform fits your specific operation.

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AI in Fleet Management and What’s Coming in the Next workM8 Release

Fleet managers have plenty of data. Every vehicle and asset reports its location, speed, engine health, fuel use, idle time and driver behaviour, all day, every day. Collecting it has never been the problem. The hard part is finding the time to work out what it all means.

That is where AI is starting to earn its place in fleet operations and vehicle tracking.

Where AI Is Already Being Used in Fleet Management

Predictive maintenance

Rather than servicing vehicles on a fixed schedule, or waiting for something to break, AI models look at engine diagnostics, fault codes and usage history to work out when a vehicle actually needs attention. Fleets that do this well see fewer breakdowns and lower servicing costs, and keep more vehicles on the road.

Routing and Utilisation

Trip history, traffic and job schedules can be analysed together to suggest better routes and smarter vehicle allocation. The savings show up in fuel bills and total kilometres travelled. It also becomes obvious which assets are sitting idle and could be redeployed or sold.

Driver Safety and Fatigue

Patterns like harsh braking, speeding and erratic steering can be picked up automatically and flagged before they turn into incidents. For long-haul work across regional Australia, fatigue detection in particular is getting serious attention, for good reason.

Spotting the Odd Stuff

A vehicle idling outside its geofence at 2am. Fuel use that doesn’t match the kilometres logged. A tracker that has gone quiet. These things used to hide in spreadsheets until someone stumbled on them. Now they can surface on their own.

AI-Assisted Reports Are Coming to workM8

Reporting is where we think AI will make the most immediate difference for our customers, so that is where we are starting.

In the next workM8 release, you will be able to ask for the report you need in plain language. Utilisation by depot. Idle time trends. Geofence exceptions. Cost per vehicle. The platform builds it for you, and highlights what has changed since last time.

What that means in practice:

  • Less time exporting CSVs and building pivot tables
  • Trends and outliers pointed out for you, not buried in the numbers
  • Summaries written in language your ops team, finance team and executives can all use

If you already use workM8 dashboards and alerts, think of this as the next layer on top. The data is already there. Now it will explain itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is AI used in fleet management?

AI is used in fleet management to turn raw telematics data into decisions. The main applications are predictive maintenance, smarter routing and vehicle utilisation, driver safety and fatigue detection, and automatically spotting anomalies like unexplained fuel use or a tracker that’s gone quiet. Fleets already collect the data, AI is what finds the time to interpret it.

What is predictive maintenance in fleet management?

Predictive maintenance uses AI to service vehicles when they actually need it, rather than on a fixed schedule or after a breakdown. Models analyse engine diagnostics, fault codes and usage history to flag issues early. Fleets that do it well see fewer breakdowns, lower servicing costs, and keep more vehicles on the road.

Can AI reduce fleet operating costs?

Yes. AI reduces fleet operating costs across several areas. Predictive maintenance cuts breakdowns and servicing bills, smarter routing lowers fuel use and total kilometres, and utilisation analysis reveals idle assets that can be redeployed or sold. The savings come from acting on data the fleet already collects, instead of letting it sit unread in a spreadsheet.

How does AI improve driver safety?

AI improves driver safety by automatically detecting risky patterns like harsh braking, speeding and erratic steering, and flagging them before they become incidents. For long-haul work across regional Australia, fatigue detection is drawing particular attention. The aim is to surface risk early, rather than reviewing it after something has already gone wrong.

Is fleet telematics data secure with AI reporting?

With workM8, yes. Your fleet data stays secure and sovereign. workM8 is Australian-made and all data is hosted onshore, which matters to the councils, government agencies and enterprises it works with. That doesn’t change with AI-assisted reporting: the AI adds a layer on top of your existing dashboards without moving data offshore.

workM8 for Fleet Management: Built in Australia, Hosted Onshore

workM8 is Australian-made and our data stays onshore. That matters to the councils, government agencies and enterprises we work with, and it will not change with AI-assisted reports. Your fleet data stays secure and sovereign.

AI-assisted reports land in our next release. If you want an early look, or just want to talk through what smarter reporting could do for your fleet, get in touch at workm8.io.

Lone Worker Safety: Why One Size Does Not Fit All

If you have people working alone, you have a duty of care that follows them everywhere they go. The community nurse doing home visits. The ranger checking assets three hours from the nearest town. The security guard doing a night patrol. The linesman on a remote corridor with no mobile coverage at all.

They are all lone workers. And they all need very different things.

The Problem With Most Lone Worker Solutions

The issue with many lone worker safety solutions is that most products in this space start with the answer already decided. A vendor sells a pendant, so every worker gets a pendant. Another sells an app, so everything runs through a phone. A third has built their business on one satellite network, so that is what you get, whether your people need it or not.

The trouble is that lone work is not one problem. A duress button is useless to someone driving through a blackspot. A phone app is useless to someone whose site bans phones. A satellite device is overkill for a carer working in the suburbs, and paying satellite airtime for a hundred metro workers because five of them go remote is just wasted money.

Buy a single-product solution and you end up doing one of two things. You force the product onto workers it does not suit, or you run three disconnected systems side by side, with three sets of alerts and no single view of who is safe and who is not.

How workM8 Approaches Lone Worker Safety

We started from the other end. workM8 is a platform, not a device. We do not make hardware and we do not own a network, which means we have no reason to push you toward either. The platform connects whatever mix of devices and networks actually fits your workforce, and brings every worker into one view with one set of escalation workflows.

In practice that looks like this:

Device Agnostic

Smartphone apps, dedicated duress pendants, personal locator beacons, in-vehicle telematics, satellite handsets like the Iridium 9575, even portable units such as Starlink Mini for teams that set up camp. Different workers carry different things. The platform treats them all the same.

Network Agnostic

Cellular where there is coverage. Satellite where there is not. Some workers will move between both in a single shift, and the handover should be their device’s problem, not theirs. Coverage maps decide the network. Not the vendor’s business model.

Workflows Built Around the Actual Risk

A missed check-in from a nurse on home visits should trigger a different response than a duress alert from a night patrol, or a vehicle rollover alarm from the Pilbara. In workM8 you build an escalation path for each scenario: who gets called, in what order, after how long, with what information in front of them.

One View of All Your Workers

Whatever your people carry and however it connects, supervisors see a single picture. Who checked in, who is overdue, who raised an alarm, where they are. No swivel-chairing between portals.

Why No Lock-In Matters More Than Any Feature

Your workforce will change. Coverage will change. Hardware certainly will, and the device that is best in class today will not be in three years. If your safety system is welded to one product or one network, every one of those changes becomes a rip-and-replace project.

With a platform approach you swap the parts, not the system. Add satellite for a new remote contract. Trial a better pendant for one team without touching anyone else. Retire old hardware on your schedule, not the vendor’s. The workflows, the reporting and the duty-of-care record all stay put.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is duty of care for lone workers?

Duty of care for lone workers is an employer’s obligation to protect the health and safety of staff who work alone. It follows the worker everywhere, whether they’re in the suburbs or three hours from the nearest town, which means the safety system has to cover every scenario each worker faces, not just the easy ones.

Why doesn’t one lone worker safety solution fit all workers?

One solution doesn’t fit all lone workers because lone work is not a single problem. A duress button is useless in a mobile blackspot, a phone app is useless where a site bans phones, and paying satellite airtime for a hundred metro workers because five go remote is wasted money. Different workers genuinely need different devices and networks.

What should a lone worker safety system include?

An effective lone worker safety system should be device agnostic and network agnostic, use escalation workflows built around each specific risk, and bring every worker into one view. That means the right mix of apps, pendants, beacons or satellite handsets, cellular or satellite coverage as needed, and a single place for supervisors to see who’s checked in, who’s overdue, and who’s raised an alarm.

How much does a lone worker safety system cost?

The cost of a lone worker safety system depends on the mix of devices and networks your workforce actually needs, not a single per-user price. Forcing one product on everyone — like paying satellite airtime for a hundred metro workers because only five go remote — wastes money. A platform approach lets you match spend to real risk, device by device, so you pay for coverage you’ll use.

How do you protect lone workers with no mobile coverage?

You protect lone workers in no-coverage areas by using satellite alongside cellular, so the device hands over automatically as workers move between them. Satellite handsets like the Iridium 9575, or portable units like Starlink Mini for camp-based teams, keep check-ins and duress alerts working where mobile networks can’t reach — without forcing satellite airtime on your metro workers.

Lone Worker Safety: How To Get Started

Not with a product catalogue. Start with your people. Map out who works alone, where, and what the realistic worst day looks like for each of them. Then fit the technology to that.

It is the conversation we have with every customer before we recommend a single device, and we are happy to have it with you. workM8 is Australian-made, our data is hosted onshore, and our team has put lone worker solutions into everything from suburban care fleets to some of the most remote corridors in the country.

Get in touch at help@workm8.io and tell us about your lone workers. We will work out the right mix together.

Why IoT Deployments Fail, and How to Avoid Paying for One That Does

Most organisations that try IoT do not fail loudly. There is no disaster, no headline. What happens is quieter than that.

A pilot goes in, the dashboard looks good in the demo, and then eighteen months later there is a drawer full of sensors, a subscription nobody remembers approving, and no one who can say what the project actually changed.

We have been called in to rescue enough of these to know the failure patterns by heart.

Here are the big ones, and what we do differently at workM8 to keep you out of them.

The Five Ways IoT Projects Die

1. They Start With the Technology, Not the Problem

Someone gets excited about a sensor or a platform, buys it, and then goes looking for a use. It should run the other way. Which decisions are you making blind today? Which manual checks eat hours every week? If you cannot name the business problem in one sentence, the project is already in trouble.

2. Pilot Purgatory

A trial of twenty devices works fine, then never scales. Usually because the pilot dodged the hard questions: who pays for connectivity at a thousand devices, who swaps flat batteries, who owns the data, how does it plug into the systems your people actually use. A pilot that ignores those questions proves nothing.

3. The Connectivity Is Wrong for the Job

IoT is not one network. NB-IoT suits a bin sensor that reports twice a day. Cat-M1 suits a moving vehicle. LoRaWAN suits a paddock of soil probes. Satellite suits the site with no coverage at all. Pick the wrong one and you either overpay for capability you never use, or the devices simply stop reporting the moment they leave town.

4. Locked In, Then Let Down

Plenty of vendors sell a closed bundle: their device, their network, their portal. It works until it does not. The hardware is discontinued, the pricing changes, the feature you need is not on the roadmap, and your only options are to put up with it or start again from zero.

5. Data Arrives, Nothing Happens

This is the most common one and the most expensive. The sensors work, the readings flow in, and they land in a dashboard nobody opens. If a fill-level reading does not raise a work order, and a temperature breach does not alert the right person at 2am, you have bought yourself a very elaborate screensaver.

How workM8 Keeps Your Investment off That List

Advisory Before Hardware

We start with a conversation about your operation, not a price list. Sometimes that conversation ends with us recommending a smaller deployment than you had in mind, or a different one entirely. Cheaper for you now, better for both of us long term.

No Lock-In, by Design

workM8 is device agnostic and network agnostic. We work with proven hardware partners like Digital Matter, Teltonika, Ellenex and Milesight, across NB-IoT, Cat-M1, LoRaWAN and satellite, and we choose per use case. If a better device comes along in two years, you swap the device. The platform, the workflows and the history stay.

Data That Triggers Action

The heart of workM8 is the workflow builder. Readings do not just get charted, they start business processes. A bin hits 80 percent full and a collection job is raised. A vehicle enters a geofence after hours and the right person gets a call. That is the difference between owning data and using it.

Someone To Run It

Devices need lifecycle management: provisioning, firmware, battery replacement, retirement. We offer it as a managed service, so the project keeps working after the launch excitement wears off and the champion who bought it moves on.

Scale Answered Up Front

Connectivity pricing, integration, support and hardware roadmaps are dealt with at the start, not discovered at device five hundred. When you pilot with us, the pilot is designed to scale or to fail fast and cheap. Either result is a good outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do IoT projects fail?

IoT deployments fail because they’re built around a product instead of a problem. The most common causes are starting with the technology rather than a clear business case, pilots that never scale, choosing the wrong connectivity, vendor lock-in, and data that arrives but triggers no action. Most of these failures are avoidable with planning before purchase.

What is “pilot purgatory” in IoT?

Pilot purgatory is when an IoT trial works fine at twenty devices but never scales into a full deployment. It usually happens because the pilot skipped the hard questions: who pays for connectivity at scale, who replaces flat batteries, who owns the data, and how it integrates with existing systems. A pilot that dodges these proves nothing.

Which IoT connectivity type should I choose?

The right IoT connectivity depends on the use case, because IoT is not one network. NB-IoT suits low-frequency sensors like bin monitors, Cat-M1 suits moving vehicles, LoRaWAN suits dense sensor networks like soil probes, and satellite suits sites with no coverage. Choosing wrong means overpaying for unused capability, or devices that stop reporting once they leave town.

How do I avoid vendor lock-in with IoT?

Avoid IoT vendor lock-in by choosing a device-agnostic and network-agnostic platform. Closed bundles that tie the device, network, and portal together leave you stranded when hardware is discontinued, pricing changes, or a feature you need never makes the roadmap. With an open platform, you swap the device when needed and keep your workflows, integrations, and history intact.

What makes IoT data actually useful?

IoT data becomes useful when it triggers action rather than just filling a dashboard. Readings should start business processes automatically: a bin at 80 percent full raises a collection job, an after-hours geofence breach alerts the right person. Data that lands in a dashboard nobody opens is an expensive screensaver, not a business outcome.

What To Do Next if You’re Planning an IoT Project

IoT does not fail because the technology is immature. It fails because projects are set up around a product instead of a problem, and abandoned at the first hard question about scale. Avoiding that is not complicated, but it does need to happen before the purchase order, not after.

workM8 is Australian-made, hosted onshore, and behind fleet, asset and sensor deployments for councils, government agencies and enterprises around the country.

If you are planning an IoT project soon, or are currently sitting on one that stalled, we suggest having a chat about our IoT Consultancy & Managed Services offering before you spend another dollar.

Click below to book a call with our team of IoT specialists today.

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