Routed sells to evoila, launches evoila Africa to stabilise VMware cloud market

Johannesburg, South Africa – 2 March 2026 - Local cloud provider Routed, acquired by German multinational evoila, is officially now operating as evoila Africa, marking a significant shift in the continent’s VMware cloud landscape.

Andrew Cruise, evoila Africa managing director, says that the move follows sweeping changes to the global partner ecosystem of VMware after its acquisition by Broadcom. In the wake of that deal, Broadcom reduced VMware’s global partner base from more than 6 000 to approximately 100 authorised partners worldwide, leaving many former VMware Cloud Service Providers (VCSPs) without a direct path forward.

With evoila named as one of Broadcom’s selected global partners, Routed has elected to sell its business to evoila and become its African subsidiary. “The formation of evoila Africa is positioned as a stabilising force in a disrupted market, offering a compliant, locally operated pathway for VMware cloud continuity across the continent,” explains Cruise.

The transaction allows evoila Africa to extend its existing VCFaaS (VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service) capability under an authorised Broadcom-aligned structure. For African VCSPs that did not make the final partner cut, this provides a mechanism to continue delivering VMware-based cloud services without relinquishing customer ownership or local service control.

Under the evoila Africa model, partners retain their customer relationships, local infrastructure remains in-country, VMware licensing and compliance are aligned with Broadcom’s requirements and infrastructure, and platform layers are co-managed.

“This effectively preserves VMware cloud services in African markets at a time when many providers globally have been forced to exit or replatform,” says Cruise.

evoila has coined the term hyperlocal cloud to describe a hyperscaler-class cloud deployed locally on private cloud infrastructure.

In practice, evoila Africa will: provide authorised VMware licensing, deploy and operate the VMware Cloud Foundation stack, co-manage backend infrastructure with local partners and enable partners to continue taking VMware cloud solutions to market.

This model is particularly relevant for large African enterprises and service providers that need to retain ownership of their data centres, platforms and customer environments while remaining compliant with evolving regulatory frameworks.

Cruise says that rather than centralising cloud services offshore, hyperlocal cloud keeps infrastructure, governance and operations rooted within national borders.

At the core of the offering is VCFaaS, positioned as a “modern private cloud in a box.” Built on Broadcom’s modern private cloud software stack, the service includes compute infrastructure, VMware licensing and support, design and deployment services and ongoing platform operations.

For enterprises wishing to continue running VMware as their private cloud platform, now consumed as a managed service, evoila Africa provides a compliant and supported path forward.

According to Cruise, data sovereignty has moved from a compliance checkbox to a board-level priority across African markets: “Countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria increasingly emphasise data residency, local jurisdiction and legal governance of digital assets. In this environment, hyperlocal cloud architecture ensures that infrastructure is owned or co-owned locally and operated fully under domestic legal frameworks.”

By deploying hyperlocal clouds across the continent, evoila Africa enables organisations to keep data physically and legally local, mitigate exposure to foreign legal claims, avoid cross-border data export risks and align with national regulatory requirements.

“In a post-VMware acquisition landscape characterised by uncertainty, sovereignty becomes not only a compliance requirement but a strategic differentiator,” says Cruise.

The launch of evoila Africa signals more than a rebrand, it represents a structural shift in how VMware cloud services will be preserved and delivered across Africa.

For former VCSPs, it offers continuity without capitulation.
For enterprises, it provides stability in a turbulent global ecosystem.
For the broader market, it introduces a scalable model designed to protect local infrastructure investment while aligning with Broadcom’s modern private cloud strategy.

“As evoila Africa rolls out its hyperlocal cloud model continent-wide, the company aims to stabilise VMware service delivery, preserve partner ecosystems, and enable long-term efficiencies – all while keeping African cloud infrastructure firmly under African control,” says Cruise. Ends

evoila Africa, previously known as Routed, is a division of evoila, a global company that is an integrated solutions provider specialising in the design, deployment and operating cloud Infrastructure for various markets. evoila Africa is a pinnacle Broadcom VMware Cloud Service Provider, specialising exclusively in platform engineering for secure, multi-tenanted, and private cloud solutions. The company partners with Cloud Service Providers and channel partners to deliver tailored VMware Cloud platforms that empower them to scale, innovate, and meet diverse customer needs. https://routed.co.za/

Samantha Hogg-Brandjes | GinjaNinja  | +27844584857 | samantha@ginjaninja.co.za