TL;DR
- Datacom is Australasia's largest homegrown tech company — 6,500+ staff across 24+ locations — but its awareness training is a service line inside a broader IT contract, not a dedicated multi-tenant platform.
- Cyber Aware is the dedicated human-risk platform: white-labelled portals, multi-tenant dashboards, Essential Eight and SMB1001 mapping, per-seat pricing with no minimums.
- KnowBe4 wins for enterprise-scale content depth (1,000+ modules, 47+ languages) where white-labelling matters less.
- Fortinet FortiSAT suits organisations standardised on the Fortinet security fabric, with NIST-aligned modules and FortiPhish bundled.
- Proofpoint closes the loop with live threat intelligence for enterprises already running its email security.
Enterprise security teams searching for Datacom alternatives usually share one story: the awareness training arrived as a line item in a managed-services contract, the reporting blends every client into one number, and nobody can produce per-learner evidence when an auditor or insurer asks. A services bundle is not a platform. This guide compares what to buy instead, based on what each vendor publishes about itself.
Why this matters
Datacom is a serious operation — founded in 1965 in Christchurch, now New Zealand's largest technology services company with over 6,000 staff and a NZ$1.48 billion business serving many of Australasia's largest public and private sector organisations. Its security practice runs managed IT, cybersecurity and data protection engagements across the region. But awareness training inside that engagement is delivered as a service, not as software the MSP or security team operates directly.
That distinction matters at exactly the moments that hurt: a client audit that needs per-learner completion evidence, an insurer renewal that wants phishing simulation trends, a multi-country rollout that needs localisation, or an MSP whose tenancy growth changes pricing every quarter. Dedicated awareness platforms are built for those questions; a bundled service line generally is not.
What makes the best enterprise alternative to Datacom
- Operable directly — your team (or your MSP) runs campaigns and reports, not a services desk
- Per-learner or per-seat evidence — completion, quiz and simulation records exportable per client
- Framework mapping — Essential Eight, SMB1001, ISO 27001 or NIST reporting where the audit needs it
- Scale behaviour — pricing and administration that survive headcount growth and tenant expansion
- Content depth — libraries large and current enough to keep monthly cadence interesting
The best Datacom alternatives for enterprise security teams
1. Cyber Aware: best for multi-tenant MSP and SMB delivery
Cyber Aware is a dedicated human-risk platform — gap assessments, awareness training and phishing simulations sold separately or bundled, all white-labelled under the MSP's brand. Portals, emails, certificates and reports carry the partner's brand; learners never see the vendor's. Multi-tenant management comes from template clients you build once and apply across the book, and every overdue course, failed quiz and phishing click feeds each learner's Human Risk Score.
Cyber Aware pros:
- Fully white-labelled — portal, emails, certificates, reports and phishing simulations
- Multi-tenant from day one, with template clients for scale
- Essential Eight and SMB1001 mapped out of the box; ISO 27001 and NIST CSF also supported
- Per-seat pricing with no minimums — cost scales with active seats, not contract headcount
- Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zapier and a direct API
Cyber Aware cons:
- English-first content — weaker fit for global multilingual rollouts
- Newer entrant with fewer third-party review ratings than long-established vendors
Best for: MSPs and SMBs who want a dedicated, brandable human-risk platform with Australian framework evidence.
2. KnowBe4: best for enterprise content depth and benchmarking
KnowBe4 remains the category giant: 1,000+ modules in 47+ languages, the serialised "The Inside Man" series, roughly 70,000 customers, and 18 consecutive quarters as the #1 G2 Grid leader for security awareness training. Its PhishER Plus, SecurityCoach and AIDA AI-agent suite form a security-operations ecosystem no smaller vendor matches, and its phishing benchmark dataset is the industry's largest.
KnowBe4 pros:
- Deepest content library in the market, updated monthly
- 18 consecutive quarters at #1 on G2's awareness grid
- Published list pricing and a genuine Partner/Multi-Account console
KnowBe4 cons:
- No white-label option found — learners log in on KnowBe4 instances; deeper branding costs extra with a 1,000-seat minimum
- Published bands start at 25 seats on 3-year list terms, with MSP agreements adding auto-renewal and 48-hour seat true-ups
- No Essential Eight or SMB1001 reference found on knowbe4.com
Best for: enterprises and compliance-driven buyers where content depth and brand recognition matter more than white-labelling.
3. Fortinet Security Awareness and Training (FortiSAT): best for Fortinet-standardised stacks
Fortinet's FortiSAT delivers security awareness training plus the FortiPhish phishing simulation service as a per-user SaaS subscription, designed by the Fortinet Training Institute and aligned to NIST 800-50 and NIST 800-16 guidelines. Training is informed by FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence, with admin campaign templates, certificates of completion and support for ten languages including English (US/UK/AUS). FortiSAT bundles with FortiPhish in per-user subscriptions from a 25-user minimum.
Fortinet pros:
- NIST 800-50/800-16-aligned curriculum designed by Fortinet's training institute
- FortiPhish phishing simulation included in the same per-user subscription
- Natural fit where FortiGate, FortiEDR and the Security Fabric already anchor the stack
Fortinet cons:
- Awareness training is one service among many — content breadth trails dedicated vendors
- Only meaningful value if Fortinet already runs your security stack
Best for: enterprises already standardised on Fortinet infrastructure.
4. Proofpoint Security Awareness: best for threat-intelligence-driven programmes
Proofpoint's awareness platform derives its training modules — gaming, interactive and video formats in 35+ languages — from the vendor's own threat intelligence, the same telemetry behind its email security products. Weekly Threat Alerts and Attack Spotlights explain attacks seen in the wild, and Very Attacked People / Top Clickers data imports directly into the platform to target training at the users actually under attack.
Proofpoint pros:
- Training content grounded in one of the industry's largest live email threat datasets
- Targeted assignments driven by real attack data, not a fixed annual curriculum
- Natural fit for organisations already running Proofpoint email security
Proofpoint cons:
- Quote-based pricing, typically bundled into broader Proofpoint contracts
- Awareness is a satellite product around a core email-security business
Best for: enterprises already in the Proofpoint ecosystem.
5. Safetrac: best for compliance-first Australian programmes
Safetrac, an Australian legal-training specialist, builds compliance courses around policy attestation and audit-ready completion records for HR and compliance teams. If the driver is a formal compliance programme — regulated training obligations, documented attestation, procurement review — rather than phishing click-rate reduction, Safetrac's policy-course structure fits better than a simulation-first platform.
Safetrac pros:
- Audit-ready compliance course structure built for Australian regulated industries
- Policy attestation and completion records designed for HR-led rollouts
Safetrac cons:
- Lighter phishing simulation cadence than simulation-first platforms
- Less suited to MSPs whose main KPI is reducing client click rates
Best for: Australian compliance and HR teams prioritising attestation over simulation frequency.
How to choose
The deciding question is who operates the programme day to day. If an MSP or internal security team runs it directly against per-learner evidence, a dedicated platform (Cyber Aware for Australian multi-tenant delivery, KnowBe4 for global enterprise scale) wins. If the value is intelligence rather than operation — training targeted by live threat data, or bundled with network security — Proofpoint and Fortinet fit existing ecosystems. And if the audit is the driver, map the platform to the framework your auditor reads: Essential Eight and SMB1001 for Australian businesses, ISO 27001 and NIST elsewhere.
FAQ
Is Datacom's security awareness training a dedicated platform? No — it is delivered as a service line inside Datacom's broader managed IT, cybersecurity and data protection engagements. That suits organisations that want a vendor to run the programme end to end, but it doesn't give security teams or MSPs direct, multi-tenant operation of training, simulations and reporting.
Who is Datacom, and how large is the company? Datacom is Australasia's largest homegrown technology services company — founded in 1965, New Zealand's largest tech company by revenue (NZ$1.48 billion), with over 6,000 staff across 24+ locations in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.
What is the best Datacom alternative for Australian MSPs? Cyber Aware — multi-tenant white-label delivery, per-seat pricing with no minimums, and Essential Eight and SMB1001 mapping built in, which Datacom's bundled service line doesn't offer as an operable platform.
Is KnowBe4 a good enterprise alternative to Datacom? Yes for content depth and benchmarking — 1,000+ modules in 47+ languages and the largest phishing dataset in the category. But there's no white-label option, pricing bands start at 25 seats on 3-year list terms, and neither Essential Eight nor SMB1001 appears on knowbe4.com.
Does Fortinet include security awareness training? Yes — FortiSAT is a per-user SaaS service aligned to NIST 800-50 and NIST 800-16, with FortiPhish phishing simulation included and a 25-user minimum order. It fits best where Fortinet already anchors the security stack.
What should an enterprise check before switching? Three things: who operates the programme day to day (you or the vendor), whether reporting splits per client or per learner for audits, and which frameworks the evidence maps to. A bundled service that can't answer all three is the reason teams end up shopping for alternatives.
One last thing
Before switching anything, pull last quarter's training evidence and check one thing: whether the report can split by client and by learner — not just a blended tenant average. If it can't, that's the real reason to move, not the course content.