At some point in every software decision, someone says it: “we need to look at two or three options before we commit.”
Fair enough. You should. Compliance software touches your ability to put people and equipment on site, which means it touches revenue. This isn’t a purchase to make on a hunch.
The trap is comparing tools on feature lists, because every vendor’s feature list looks impressive. The better approach is to ask questions that reveal who the tool was actually built for. Here are the seven we’d ask, whether you’re looking at us or anyone else.
1. Who is the system designed to protect: you or your client?
A lot of compliance software in the Australian mining ecosystem is principal-side: portals your clients use to verify contractors (think Pegasus, Avetta, Cm3, ISN). They’re good at what they do, but they answer the operator’s question, not yours. A contractor-side system answers YOUR question: who and what can I send, where, today?
You’ll likely need to work with the portals regardless. The question is whether you also have a system of your own, or whether the portals are the only place your compliance picture exists.
2. Does it cover equipment as well as people?
If you mobilise gear, this is the sharpest filter you can apply. Many capable platforms model people only: tickets, medicals, inductions. Ask whether an asset can carry its own requirements, documents and expiries natively. If equipment lives in a workaround or a separate module on a roadmap, you’ll end up running a spreadsheet alongside the software you just paid for.
(For context: across the GO! Site Ready customer base, 58% of tracked assets are equipment. For most mining contractors, gear is the bigger half of the job.)
3. Can it map requirements by site and by role?
Mining compliance isn’t one list of rules. Site A demands different tickets than Site B. A supervisor needs different competencies than an operator. A generic register that holds documents but doesn’t know which site requires what will leave the matching work in someone’s head. Ask to see how the system answers: “is this person, in this role, cleared for this site?” If the demo can’t show that directly, keep looking.
4. Who owns the data if things change?
Clients change portals. Contracts end. Vendors get acquired. Ask each vendor plainly: can we export our complete compliance history, and what happens to our data if we leave? A system of record you can’t take with you isn’t really yours.
5. Will it alert you BEFORE something expires, across everything?
Almost every tool claims expiry alerts. The detail that matters is scope. Does one view show what’s expiring in the next 60 days across all your people, all your equipment, and all your sites and clients? Or do you have to check per client, per portal, per module? Early warning only works if it covers the whole horizon.
6. What does setup actually involve, and who does the work?
This is where software decisions quietly die. The system is good, but the data migration sits in the too-hard basket for six months. Ask the vendor: who does the initial import? What do you need from us, exactly? How long until we see our own data producing a real readiness report? Push for specific commitments. Vague answers about “easy onboarding” usually mean the work is yours.
For what it’s worth, our answer: in a 14-day Supported Trial, we do the setup with you. Within 7–10 business days of kickoff and data access, you get your people, equipment and key expiries imported, one site and one role configured, your first readiness report, and a prioritised gap list. Spreadsheets and CSVs are fine as the starting point.
7. Does it fit a business your size?
Some platforms in this space are built for operators and enterprise contractors, with pricing and implementation timelines to match. Others are built for small teams without external client requirements. Be honest about where you sit. GO! Site Ready is built for contracting businesses of roughly 10–150 employees who naturally also have equipment and vehicles to manage. If you’re a sole trader with a ute and a toolbox, we’re genuinely not the right fit yet, and a good vendor will tell you that kind of thing straight.
Putting it to the board
If you need to present options internally, use these seven questions as the comparison rows and score each tool honestly. Any system that holds up across all seven, for YOUR business shape, is a defensible recommendation.
And yes, we think GO! Site Ready holds up well on these questions for mining services contractors, because they describe the exact problem it was built for. Built for mining suppliers, it works across mining, construction, civil and industrial sites: one system wherever requirements change by site and client.
Book a demo to put us through the seven questions yourself. We’ll run it as a working session on your real sites and requirements.
Already convinced and want proof on your own data? Apply for the 14-day Supported Trial.
