I help businesses, schools and community organisations make confident IT decisions, improve security and deliver upgrades with minimal disruption.

I’m Nick O’Sullivan, an IT consultant based in Townsville. Whether you need a second opinion or help with a project, I’ll explain the options and costs clearly. You can work with me alongside your existing IT provider.

Discuss your project Email Nick

What can I help you with?

Planning your move to fibre internet

Understand your NBN upgrade options and what needs to change inside your organisation. I help plan the service transition with your provider, including the effect on phones, internet access and existing equipment.

Making your network more reliable

Improve Wi-Fi and connections between buildings, plan cabling requirements with your installer, or replace a firewall with a carefully prepared changeover. I help you choose equipment that suits your needs and budget.

UniFi network design and quote reviews

Checking a quote or planning an upgrade

Get a second opinion before committing, or turn a technology problem into a clear project. I explain the alternatives, costs and priorities so you can decide what to do now and what can wait.

Protecting your accounts and information

Review Microsoft 365, administrator access, email security and backups. Understand who can reach your systems, what happens if something goes wrong and which improvements deserve attention first.

Making sense of security alerts

Bring security information together using tools such as Wazuh and Splunk. I help connect log sources, check detection coverage, tune alerts and build reports so your team knows what needs investigation and action.

How I approach security log analysis

Examples from my work

Moving to fibre internet and improving connections between buildings. I’ve assisted organisations with NBN transitions from Fibre to the Node (FTTN) to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), and planned improvements to ageing fibre cabling. The aim is to meet today’s needs while allowing for future growth. Read about connectivity planning.

Replacing firewalls with a short interruption. I’ve rebuilt and migrated firewalls with a successful cutover involving only a few seconds of downtime. Preparation and testing are central to that work; the achievable interruption is assessed for each project. Read about firewall migrations.

What you receive

We agree the scope before work starts. Depending on the project, you can receive:

• A clear explanation of the problem and the options available.
• Recommendations with costs, priorities and trade-offs explained.
• A design or changeover plan for your team and suppliers.
• Documentation and a discussion of what to do next.

Value for money includes ongoing costs and support. I can help compare an Aruba solution with a Ubiquiti alternative, for example, and explain which capabilities your organisation needs. A smaller quote review may be enough; a larger change needs a broader plan.

Working together

1. Tell me what you need. Share the problem, any quotes and your timing or budget constraints.
2. Agree the work. We confirm the scope, fees, availability and who is responsible for each part.
3. Plan and deliver agreed changes. We confirm approvals, timing, testing and a way back if the change does not work as expected.
4. Review the outcome. We go through the findings or completed work, documentation and next steps.

Change management that fits your organisation

My approach draws on ITIL service management practices: understand the impact, assess the risks, agree who approves the change and schedule it around the people who rely on the service. The process should fit the size and risk of the work.

For a firewall migration or internet upgrade, that means agreeing the expected interruption, communicating with staff and suppliers, preparing a rollback plan, and checking that essential services work afterwards. Documentation and handover help your team support the result.

I bring more than 17 years of IT experience across small business, education and community organisations, supported by ACS Certified Technologist and Ubiquiti networking credentials. Read about my background and qualifications.

A few practical questions

Can this be a one-off project?

Yes. You can enquire about a review, second opinion or defined project. We agree any follow-up separately. My guide to engaging an IT consultant explains what to prepare.

Where do you work, and who installs the equipment?

I’m based in Townsville and welcome enquiries from North Queensland. We agree on-site or remote arrangements for each project. I help with planning and coordination; your cabling contractor handles physical cabling installation and testing, and your internet provider confirms connection arrangements.

What does it cost?

Fees depend on the systems involved and the agreed work. Send a short description of what you need so we can discuss scope and cost before you commit. Consultancy is undertaken separately from my school employment, with availability agreed in advance.

Do you provide ongoing monitoring or emergency response?

This page is for scheduled consulting and projects. For monitoring work, we agree who reviews alerts and handles escalation. For an active cyber incident, contact your established response provider or use ASD’s reporting and assistance channels.

Contact Nick

Tell me about your organisation, location and the problem you want to solve. Book a conversation or email me directly.

Discuss your project

You can also message me on LinkedIn.

This site introduces my experience, approach and writing. Suburban Secure brings that work together as technology reviews, cyber security improvements and implementation projects, through Suburban Australia. For computer repairs and everyday support, visit Townsville Computer Man.

Consultancy business: Nicholas O’Sullivan
ABN: 24 550 297 597