About us

Scott Coles is the Chief Executive Officer of Optalert, and a non-executive Director and mentor to several Australian technology companies.

Prior to joining Optalert in 2012, Scott developed and led the strategic turnaround plan that saw ISYS Search Software generate its best financial results in over 20 years. Scott steered ISYS through the GFC achieving 40% revenue growth and successfully sold the company to Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) in March 2012.

Scott has held senior executive roles for large, global tech companies including EDS, Allied Telesis, and Avaya.

A pioneer in Australia’s technology industry, Scott established Bell Labs in Australia in the 1990s. With several Nobel laureates, Bell Labs was, at the time, the largest privately owned research and development organization in the world. He established the first development group outside of the United States for the corporation, a group that would go on to generate 17% of Avaya’s patents over a decade of innovation.

Nicolas is the Chief Operating Officer of Optalert, serving since November 2021. Prior to his appointment as COO, Nicolas worked as a Senior Management Consultant at Daimler Truck and Bus, Australia Pacific.

Nicolas is a versatile Strategy and Finance professional with over 15 years experience across Residential & Commercial property markets, Renewable Energy, Software Development & Distribution, Service Delivery and support desk, Healthcare IT, Automotive & Transportation Industries.

During his career, he has worked at global organisations including Daimler, Olinqua, Compagnie Lebon and The Colas Group. Nicolas leverages his unique mix of skills and experience to deliver innovative solutions to modern business problems.

Simon Block is Optalert’s Chief Technical Officer, with a decade of experience with the organisation. Simon began at Optalert as a Platform Architect & Lead Developer, where he led the development on the migration of existing vehicle systems to the Android platform. 

Prior to joining Optalert in 2013, Simon was responsible for a diverse range of roles at Symstream Technologies, as a Senior Software Engineer and Project Team Leader, Technical Product Manager and Senior Solutions Manger. Symstream Technologies delivers M2M carriage and managed service solutions for the banking and financial payments sector, utilities and other applications. At Symstream, Simon and his team produced a unique and secure Managed Wireless Technology for the financial industry. 

Simon began his career at Hewlett Packard, where he developed many of his technical skills working in both the computer segment of the business, as well as later the Test and Measurement space. After leaving Hewlett Packard, Simon formed a consulting company in Canada, covering embedded development and device drivers for real time applications, such as Telecommunications, Cellular Technologies and Signal Intelligence. 

Trefor is the General Manager of Research and Development at Optalert, serving since 2013. Prior to his tenure at Optalert, Trefor was the Chief Operating Officer at Monitoring Division, a software and telecommunications company who filled critical gaps in network diagnostic tools for carriers migrating from SONET to IP over Optics, and to lay the groundwork for smart optical infrastructure.

Trefor has contributed as a panel expert and panellist at RMIT at their Engaging for Impact forum in 2019 as well as the Sleep and Brain Health Symposium in 2018. He continues to contribute his profound industry expertise at Swinburne University of Technology to the Course Advisory Committee of the Department of Telecommunications, Electrical, Robotic and Biomedical Engineering (TERBe).

James is the Executive Vice-President of Sales at Optalert, having served in the role since 2013. James leads the Global Sales Team in direct, channel and IP licensing sales in DMS for Automotive OEM’s, Pharmaceutical CNS, Mining and Transport.

Prior to joining Optalert, James spent 8 years at IBM as a National Business Unit Executive Sales Leader & second line manager, responsible for WebSphere Portal, IBM Collaboration & Social Media Software. Prior to that, he spent 4 years at BDO Kendalls, Brisbane as a Director of Business Development selling SAP and Microsoft Great Plains ERP Software and Professional Services.

James continues to present on Social Selling and Social Media, Disruption and Leadership to the Australian Owner Manager Program formed by the University of Queensland.