Cloud. Scalable
Cloud services for South African businesses.
One provider, every layer
FirstNet's cloud services are built to work together. You can start with one building block and add the rest as your needs grow, with a single accountable provider for design, delivery and support.
Cloud Migration & Modernization
Move legacy infrastructure to a secure, agile cloud. FirstNet delivers phased, low-risk cloud migration and modernization with minimal business downtime.Private Cloud Hosting & Management (IaaS)
A South African-hosted virtual datacentre on VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V, with firewall and immutable backups as the baseline.Data Protection & Ransomware Resilience
Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and endpoint backup: An independent, restorable copy of your SaaS and laptop data, with no backup servers for you to run.Backup & Disaster Recovery as a Service
Offsite, encrypted and immutable Veeam backups of your virtual machines and physical servers, with optional managed operations.
Colocation Services
Space, power, cooling and connectivity for your own hardware in our Durban data centre or Teraco facilities.Microsoft Licensing (CSP)
Microsoft 365, Azure, security and Copilot on one ZAR-billed agreement, with licence right-sizing every 90 days.Disaster Recovery as a Service
Reserved recovery capacity and VM replication, so critical systems can run from a FirstNet data centre during an outage.
Why FirstNet cloud infrastructure
Built. Secured. Delivered.
Most providers deliver isolated services.
FirstNet engineers the entire infrastructure layer:
- Connectivity And SD-WAN
- Security Architecture
- Backup And Disaster Recovery
Customers work with one accountable partner
not multiple vendors.
The Result:
- Predictable Performance
- Unified Security And Governance
- Simplified Operations
- Scalable, Future-Ready Infrastructure
Hosted and supported in South Africa
Private Cloud workloads run in FirstNet data centres in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Colocation is available in our own Durban facility and in Teraco sites in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, so you can keep data in South Africa and place DR in a different region.
- ISO 27001 (ISMS) and ISO 9001 (QMS) certified management systems
- ICASA-licensed for ECS and ECNS
- B-BBEE Level 1 contributor
- 24x7 Rapid Response service desk via email, phone or portal
- Private peering to AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform
The details
Why cloud is business-criticalMost businesses don’t struggle because they lack technology.
Non-negotiable cloud services for modern organisations
Most businesses don’t struggle because they lack technology. They struggle because their infrastructure is fragmented, across vendors, platforms, and locations.
Cloud infrastructure should do more than host workloads. It should connect, secure, and scale your entire technology environment.
At FirstNet, we design and operate enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure that forms a single, integrated foundation across:
Private And Hybrid Cloud Platforms
Business- grade connectivity and SD-WAN
Built-in security and compliance controls
Backup, disaster recovery, and resilience
Our cloud environments are engineered and operated locally in South Africa, with enterprise data centres, carrier-neutral connectivity, and security controls certified to ISO 27001 and ISO 9001, POPIA, and global best practice.
The result is not just cloud hosting, but a resilient infrastructure layer that supports performance, security, compliance, and long-term growth.
FirstNet connects the cloud that keeps you moving
What cloud
infrastructure means for modern businesses
Simplified. Connected. Elevated
Cloud infrastructure is no longer simply about moving servers into a data centre.
For modern organisations, cloud forms the operational backbone that supports:
- Core Business Systems And Applications
- Secure Access For Remote And Hybrid Workforces
- Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery
- Regulatory Compliance And Data Protection
Without a properly engineered cloud architecture, businesses experience:
- Performance Bottlenecks Caused By Legacy Infrastructure
- Rising Operational Costs From Over-Provisioned Hardware
- Increased Security Exposure And Audit Risk
- Fragmented Systems That Are Difficult To Manage Or Scale
FirstNet approaches cloud as infrastructure engineering, not just capacity provisioning. Every environment is designed with performance, resilience, security, and operational governance built in from day one.
Private, public and hybrid cloudBest for: Compliance-driven, performance-sensitive, and predictable workloads.
Private, public, and hybrid cloud solutions
Integrated. Intelligent. Infrastructure.
Private Cloud
Best for: Compliance-driven, performance-sensitive, and predictable workloads
FirstNet’s Private Cloud is built on enterprise-grade compute, storage, and networking, hosted in Tier III+ data centres within South Africa. Customers benefit from:
- Dedicated Resource Pools
- Multi-hypervisor support (VMware & Hyper-V)
- High availability, redundancy, and live migration
- Predictable performance and cost control
Public Cloud
Best for: Global scalability, development, and burst workloads
Public cloud platforms integrate into FirstNet’s architecture through private, carrier-neutral connectivity, ensuring low latency and secure access without reliance on the public internet.
Hybrid Cloud
The most common architecture today.
Hybrid cloud enables organisations to:
- Keep Sensitive Or Regulated Workloads Private
- Scale Workloads into Public Cloud When Required
- Integrated On-Prem, Private, and Public Environments Through A Single Management Layer
Why businesses are moving to cloud
- Scalability: Infrastructure scales horizontally and vertically as demand changes - without disruptive hardware refresh cycles.
- Cost Efficiency: Transition from capital expenditure to predictable operational expenditure, billed on actual consumption.
- Security & Resilience: Centralised security controls, encrypted data, immutable backups, and tested disaster recovery frameworks.
- Performance: Enterprise compute, low-latency storage, and carrier-grade connectivity deliver consistent application performance.
Cloud architecture for South African
businesses
Private. Public. Unified.
Cloud architecture must reflect local realities.
FirstNet designs cloud environments with South African businesses in mind:
- Data Sovereignty Aligned To POPIA And Industry Regulations
- Local Data Centre Hosting For Latency-Sensitive Workloads
- Carrier-Neutral Connectivity Across Multiple Fibre Providers
- Hybrid Integration For Organisations Maintaining Some On-Prem Systems
This architecture ensures performance, compliance, and resilience - without locking customers into a single vendor or platform.
Security in the cloudSecurity is one of the biggest barriers to cloud adoption, and one of FirstNet’s strongest differentiators.
Security in the cloud
Scalable. Secure. Simplified.
Security is one of the biggest barriers to cloud adoption, and one of FirstNet’s strongest differentiators.
Our cloud environments include:
- ISO 27001 certified security controls
- ISO 9001 certified quality controls
- Role-based access control and MFA
- Encryption for data at rest and in transit (AES-256 / TLS)
- Centralised logging, monitoring, and SIEM integration
- Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing
Security is not bolted on. It is
Architected into the platform.
Cloud migration strategySuccessful cloud migration requires structure, not guesswork.
Cloud migration strategy
Adaptive. Connected. Always-On.
Successful cloud migration requires structure, not guesswork.
FirstNet follows a proven migration framework.
Assessment
Understanding workloads, dependencies, and risk
Architecture Design
Selecting the right cloud
model
Migration
Data, systems, and
applications
Optimisation
Performance tuning and
cost control
Ongoing Management
Monitoring, security, and
scaling
Cloud services we provideEach service is delivered as part of a cohesive infrastructure strategy - not as a standalone product.
Cloud services we provide
Open. Secure. Connected.
Private Cloud Infrastructure
Private Cloud InfrastructureHybrid Cloud Architecture
Hybrid Cloud ArchitectureCloud Migration Services
Cloud Migration ServicesBackup And Disaster Recovery
Backup And Disaster RecoveryCloud Security Services
Each service is delivered as part of a cohesive infrastructure strategy - not as a standalone product.
FirstNet shapes the cloud. Built for modern business
Industries that benefitEach sector benefits from improved resilience, compliance, and scalability.
Industries that benefit
Financial Services
Healthcare
Logistics And Supply Chain
Retail And Manufacturing
Professional Services
Each sector benefits from improved resilience, compliance, and scalability.
The cost of cloud infrastructure
Cloud cost is determined by design choices, not just resource size.
Key cost drivers include:
- Compute And Memory Allocation
- Storage performance tiers
- Connectivity And Bandwidth
- Security And Resilience Requirements
FirstNet uses a transparent, consumption-based pricing model, billed monthly in arrears, allowing customers to scale without penalty and maintain cost visibility.
Is cloud infrastructure secure?
Yes. When properly designed, cloud environments provide stronger security, visibility, and resilience than traditional on-prem infrastructure.
Do South African businesses need local hosting?
For latency, compliance, and data sovereignty, local hosting is often essential.
What happens if connectivity goes down?
FirstNet designs cloud environments with redundant connectivity, failover, and disaster recovery built in.
Which cloud service should we start with?
It depends on the outcome you need. Private Cloud replaces on-premises servers, BaaS gives you an offsite backup copy, DRaaS keeps systems running during an outage and colocation hosts your own hardware. A short discovery session usually makes the right starting point clear.
Can we keep our data in South Africa?
Yes. Private Cloud runs in FirstNet data centres in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, and colocation sites are all in South Africa. We confirm the exact hosting and DR locations, and any residency wording, in the solution design.
Is backup the same as disaster recovery?
No. Backup recovers data after deletion, corruption or ransomware. Disaster recovery keeps reserved capacity ready so whole systems can run from a second site during an outage. Many businesses need both, and they run on the same Veeam platform.
Do you only sell the cloud platform, or can you also help with Microsoft licensing?
Both. FirstNet is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider and Solutions Partner, so Microsoft 365, Azure and the security add-ons can sit on one agreement next to your FirstNet cloud services.
Is FirstNet ISO 27001 certified?
Yes. FirstNet operates under an ISO 27001-certified information security management system (ISMS) and an ISO 9001-certified quality management system (QMS). FirstNet is also licensed by ICASA for electronic communications services and network services (ECS/ECNS) and is a B-BBEE Level 1 contributor. ISO 27001 means formal security governance, risk management, change control, monitoring and incident response under audit. Certification scope matters, so if you need a named certificate for a specific hosting site or service, FirstNet confirms the scope for that location before it is committed in writing.
Where are FirstNet's data centres located?
FirstNet hosts Private Cloud workloads in its data centres in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, which gives you local hosting and a domestic footprint for disaster recovery. For colocation, FirstNet owns and operates its own data centre in Durban and holds space in Teraco's partner facilities in Isando (Johannesburg), Cape Town (CT1 and CT2) and Riverhorse (Durban). The hosting location, and the disaster recovery location if you need one, is confirmed in your solution design.
Can colocation, private cloud and backup be combined in one solution?
Yes. Colocation often serves as a building block in hybrid designs. You can keep your own hardware in a FirstNet colocation rack, run other workloads in FirstNet Private Cloud, and protect both with Backup as a Service or Disaster Recovery as a Service, with FirstNet as the single accountable provider. Colocated equipment in the Durban data centre can interconnect directly with FirstNet's private cloud and network. Many customers also use colocation in another city as a geographically separate recovery site.
From the Knowledge Hub
Where cloud fits
- Sovereign AI AI that stays home, in every layer.
- Voice Every call, clear.
- Security Threats, contained.
- Cloud Data, protected.
- Connectivity Always connected.
Enriched by Sovereign AI: run AI next to your data: the AI Factory sits in the same FirstNet data centre as your private cloud and colocation. Explore the AI Factory