RSAWEB Business - this year marking its 25th anniversary - has evolved from a B2B fibre provider to a business platform of choice, with further growth and innovation in the pipeline.
The company’s early years mirrored the rapid evolution of the local internet industry. In the early 2000s, RSAWEB launched local web hosting services, followed by the introduction of business ADSL services in 2003, enabling always-on internet access for South African users at a time when broadband adoption was still in its infancy.
As demand for digital infrastructure grew, RSAWEB continued investing in its own technology ecosystem. In 2005, the company opened its first data centre and launched its cloud platform, enabling customers to purchase hosted cloud capacity on a flexible pay-per-use basis via credit card – a first in the South African market at the time. A second, larger data centre was completed in 2009, further strengthening RSAWEB’s infrastructure capabilities and supporting growing customer demand for reliable hosting and connectivity services.
Over the following decade, RSAWEB expanded beyond traditional ISP services into broader business connectivity and cloud solutions. The company introduced fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) services in 2011, helping organisations access faster and more reliable connectivity as cloud adoption accelerated.
Since 2015, RSAWEB has also focused on innovation in mobile connectivity, building South Africa’s first mobile data management platform that is mobile network operator (MNO) agnostic, offering businesses the flexibility of both MTN and Vodacom services through a single management platform.
Annelee Le Grange, Head of RSAWEB Business, says the company continues to build on its proud legacy of evolving in line with customer needs. “Twenty-five years ago, we positioned ourselves in the market as a B2B company offering reliable fibre to the business. That’s it. Because simply getting online was a top priority for businesses then,” she says.
Over the years, connectivity has moved from an IT function to a strategic business asset, and business priorities have changed.
Le Grange says: “In the 2010s, businesses began prioritising speed and reliability, and now their focus is business continuity, scalability and integration. Network quality, redundancy and uptime are non-negotiables. RSAWEB Business has grown and evolved accordingly to become a strategic partner for businesses of any size. We’ve seen customer needs change from bandwidth to business outcomes. We’ve become a very competitive ISP with a full spectrum of solutions. Our customers can work with just one ISP partner to enable the business systems they depend on, to support cloud adoption, remote and hybrid work and real-time business applications.
“We provide multiple types of connectivity, from fibre and microwave to mobile. If you are a mining or logistics company with people on the ground, you get that connectivity using our mobile solution. If you are a bank that needs primary and secondary connectivity and failover between three or four different data centres 24/7, we enable that. We have world-class network and a range of solutions to support business objectives and remove business risk,” she says.
She cites, for example, that the business continuity required for a restaurant point-of-sale system during peak trading timeframes carries similar importance for the owner of that restaurant that a redundant failover requirement has for a bank during month-end.
Two very different business environments that one would not normally compare, yet similar expectations for a streamlined customer experience and ongoing business support.
Connectivity platforms for business growth
Le Grange believes businesses should evaluate providers based on their network strength, failover capabilities and ability to scale, as well as whether they offer dynamic, managed environments that offer visibility and control. RSAWEB Business has positioned itself as a platform provider of choice, delivering on these crucial elements as well as centralised data management, cost optimisation, real-time usage insights and security and governance. “This is where ISPs become partners in operational efficiency and no longer just suppliers of bandwidth,” she says.
Le Grange notes: “We believe it is important to understand where our customers are taking their businesses so that we can be on that journey with them. As a result, we are consistently positioned as a top business ISP in the country. Our next phase of innovation and growth will solidify that position in the top three even further.”
RSAWEB Business sees the future of connectivity revolving around ecosystems and not products.
Koos Myburgh, Head of Engineering at RSAWEB, notes that key trends include the convergence of fibre, mobile, cloud, security and voice, along with platform-based services and applications. “The ISP of the future must enable that, with the capability to fully support the integrated solutions businesses will need in the future,” he says.
“ISPs must respond to business complexity and actively enable growth, improve efficiency, support innovation and reduce risk for business. This shift is at the core of how we approach RSAWEB Business today,” he says. “We have evolved into the ISP of the future: a platform provider, data enabler and business continuity partner of choice.”
Myburgh advises that when evaluating their connectivity providers, business decision-makers should ask: ‘Does my provider support my growth strategy? Do I have visibility and control over my connectivity? Is my network future-ready?'
“The real question is no longer: ‘Who is my ISP?’ but rather, ‘Who is enabling my business to compete?’” he concludes.
Twenty-five years ago, connectivity was simply about getting online. Today RSAWEB Business provides resilient, future-ready business ecosystems across retail, fintech, media, agriculture, healthcare and many more. RSAWEB Business has continuously evolved alongside the needs of businesses, making it the chosen provider for great South African and global brands.
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