About Us 

Opentec is unique. We began developing rugged portable servers in the mid-1990s in response to needs voiced by the Australian Armed Forces. They'd realised that office grade products were simply inadequate for field operations, especially battlefield roles and operations in hot, dusty environments where extreme of temperature and vibration were encountered daily. But none of the computer vendors approached were either interested or capable of developing products that met their needs.

It was an era when few had even heard the expression 'ruggedised portable computer' and even fewer had the capabilities needed to develop and deliver such a thing. But Opentec developed and deployed the first generation of products that set many of the standards that today define what a ruggedised computer is: high levels of dust ingress protection via sealed ports and more rigorously engineered metal chassis, high levels of vibration resistance via sealed, suspended hard drives, and high levels of durability in extremes of temperature via custom designed motherboards and innovative passive cooling systems.

Following this innovative work, we delivered the second generation of rugged portable notebooks in 2000, supplying hundreds to the Australian Army for battlefield command and control roles, as well as mobile artillery command and field trunked radio control roles. These were mission critical roles, where outstanding reliability and durability were essential; all using the innovations we'd developed in the 1990s. So successful and so reliable were these products, many remained in active military service for more than 6 years!

From battlefield and defence operations support applications, we moved into rail, industrial and heavy duty commercial applications, where office products simply didn't cut the mustard; and where the lessons we'd learned in defence applications placed us in good stead.

Today, we remain Australia's only rugged portable computer supplier that designs and assembles rugged portable COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) and MOTS (Military-off-the-shelf) portable computer products, and that has extensive industrial design and electronics design and manufacturing capability based here in Australia. We also partner with world-class developers of computer, biometrics, secure communications and situational awareness technologies to deliver solutions that excel in extreme environments.

As for our people, we have 6 staff dedicated to sales, technical support and customer service; backed by more than 50 additional staff in administration, engineering, QA and logistics roles.

From ruggedised notebooks, tablets, UMPCs and PDAs, to customised chassis and fully integrated systems design and deployment, we're helping Australian organisations stay ahead by delivering superior products and superior value for money.

Opentec: for when the going gets BEYOND tough!