Consulting

IT security, NIS2 and Microsoft Security

collana advises medium-sized businesses in the DACH region on IT security: assessing compliance and conducting gap analyses for NIS2, securing Microsoft environments with Entra ID and Defender, implementing access control policies in ERP systems, and providing ongoing operational monitoring. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security, we work with the built-in tools that you have already licensed.

As we are already familiar with your ERP and data landscape, we implement security measures right where your business processes actually take place.

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Entra ID
Microsoft
Defender
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Purview
ERP-
Permissions
NIS2
Preparation
Monitoring
& Operations

NIS2: Are you affected?

The NIS2 Implementation Act has been in force in Germany since 6 December 2025, with no transition period. The group of companies subject to this requirement is grown from around 4,500 to approximately 29,500. The management bears personal liability.

Two questions, asked one after the other, will determine whether you are affected: Does your business fall within one of the categories of establishment listed in the Act? And do you exceed the size thresholds?

01

Step 1: The sectors

Appendix 1: Sectors of high criticality

Energy, Transport and Traffic, Finance, Health, Water, Digital Infrastructure, Space

Appendix 2: Other critical sectors

Postal and courier services, waste management, chemicals, food, manufacturing sectors such as mechanical engineering and vehicle manufacturing, digital services such as online marketplaces, research
Source: Appendix 1 BSIG and Appendix 2 to the BSIG, as at 18 September 2026.

What matters is not the sector name, but the specific type of establishment described in the Act for each line. ‘Food’, for example, covers only wholesale trade and industrial production and processing. The manufacturing sector is defined by NACE divisions; waste management is only included if it is the main economic activity. Furthermore, a company may fall under several categories at the same time, for example as a manufacturer and, at the same time, as the operator of an energy storage facility.

02

Step 2: The size

Particularly important facilities Key facilities
Sectors Appendix 1 only Appendix 1 and Appendix 2
Size 250 or more employees, or an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euros and, at the same time, total assets in excess of 43 million euros 50 or more employees, or an annual turnover and balance sheet total each exceeding 10 million euros
Supervision comprehensive, proactive supervision by the BSI pursuant to Section 61 of the BSIG Ad hoc supervision pursuant to Section 62 of the BSIG
Fines up to 10 million euros up to 7 million euros

Source: Section 28 of the BSIG for the scope of application, Section 65 of the BSIG for the levels of fines; Sections 61 and 62 of the BSIG for supervision. As at 18 September 2026.

Maximum fines – as at 26 October 2026

In summary: A particularly important organisation is a company operating in a sector listed in Annex 1 with at least 250 employees or over 50 million euros in annual turnover with total assets exceeding 43 million euros. A major institution is an undertaking listed in Annex 1 or Annex 2 with at least 50 employees or annual turnover and balance sheet total of, in each case, over 10 million euros. Any organisation that falls within Annex 1 but only meets the lower thresholds is considered a key institution. A hospital with 80 staff members would therefore be classified in the second column, not the first.

Regardless of their size, the scope covers operators of critical infrastructure, qualified trust service providers, top-level domain registries and DNS service providers. In the case of particularly important organisations with a total turnover of 500 million euros or more, the BSI may, for certain infringements, impose a fine of up to 2 per cent of total turnover instead of the fixed upper limit; for important organisations, the fine may be up to 1.4 per cent.
The most common misconception: many companies regard NIS2 as an issue solely for energy suppliers and hospitals. In fact, a mechanical engineering firm with 60 employees is just as much covered by the regulation as a food processing company or a waste management firm.

Do you know where your IT security is in place?

Our IT security assessment shows you where action is needed and which measures make the most sense for your business as a priority.

What we do

IT Security Consultancy: What we do in this regard

We will bring you to a point, both technically and organisationally, where the formal implementation is just a manageable step away.

01

Impact assessment

We will work with you to determine, based on sector, type of establishment and size, whether your business falls into a particular category and, if so, which one, and we will record the result in a clear and transparent manner.

02

Gap analysis

We compare your current situation with the areas for action set out in Section 30 of the BSIG and highlight where gaps exist and the order in which they should be addressed.

03

Laying the foundations

Risk management, access and authorisation policies, supply chain security, business continuity: these are the areas where the work actually needs to be done. An information security management system in accordance with ISO 27001 largely covers the technical and organisational requirements.

Where our work ends.

Registration with the BSI, the reporting deadlines for security incidents, the obligation to provide evidence to the supervisory authority, and the training requirement for senior management in accordance with Section 38 of the BSIG These are legal steps that you can take either on your own or with legal assistance. We ensure that nothing is overlooked in these steps that needs to be prepared from a technical or organisational perspective.

Taking stock

Where your IT security Today is

Before any investment is made, the current situation must be clearly laid out.

Security Assessments

We analyse your IT environment for vulnerabilities and provide specific, prioritised recommendations for securing it. Not just a list of tools, but a sequence of steps tailored to your risk profile and budget.

Penetration testing

Targeted attack simulations reveal just how resilient your systems really are. The difference between „we have a firewall“ and „we know what an attacker can do with it“.
IT security assessment
Microsoft Security

Safety in the Microsoft environment

As a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security, we secure your environment using the built-in tools that you have already licensed. This is generally more cost-effective than an additional suite of tools and can be managed efficiently.

Identity and Access Management with Microsoft Entra ID

We secure access, manage permissions and protect your sensitive data from unauthorised access. Roles, permissions and approval processes are now transparent rather than the result of historical developments.

Security Assessments

We analyse your IT environment for vulnerabilities and provide specific, prioritised recommendations for securing it. Not just a list of tools, but a sequence of steps tailored to your risk profile and budget.

Security Assessments

We analyse your IT environment for vulnerabilities and provide specific, prioritised recommendations for securing it. Not just a list of tools, but a sequence of steps tailored to your risk profile and budget.

04

Security in the ERP system

Authorisation models in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Finance are a blind spot in many security strategies. Anyone with permission to post all documents and amend all master data poses a risk that no firewall can detect. We design role and authorisation models that are tailored to your processes and ensure the separation of duties.

Do you know where your IT security is in place?

Our IT security assessment shows you where action is needed and which measures make the most sense for your business as a priority.

Managed Security Services

Ongoing protection in operation

Security is not a project with an end date.

Managed Security Services

Monitoring, patch management and incident response for your Microsoft environment ensure ongoing protection and a rapid response. We take care of the day-to-day operations, whilst you retain control.

If required, this can form part of our Managed Services, meaning that system operation and security are all handled by a single provider, and nobody will pass the buck to another service provider in the event of an emergency.

Standards & Certification

Compliance and Data protection

We support you in complying with GDPR, ISO 27001 and industry-specific security standards.

 

Within the collana Group, Develappers GmbH is certified to ISO 27001. We therefore know from our own experience what is involved in setting up an ISMS, documenting it and undergoing an audit; our knowledge is not limited to a consultancy perspective.

 

The benefit for you is that the areas of action set out in Section 30 of the BSIG – in other words, the core of the NIS2 obligations – largely correspond to the requirements of ISO 27001. Anyone setting up an information security management system in accordance with ISO 27001 is, at the same time, working towards NIS2 compliance. Duplication of effort can be avoided if both are considered together from the outset.

People & Safety

Security Awareness

Most successful attacks do not start with a technical vulnerability, but with an email that looks convincing enough. Training and awareness campaigns turn your staff into the strongest link in the security chain, rather than the weakest.

 

For management teams, there is a further requirement: the BSIG requires the governing bodies of the organisations concerned not only to monitor the implementation of security measures, but also to undergo regular training themselves.

Identifying risks

Empowering staff

Provide regular training

Living security together

Do you know where your IT security is in place?

Our IT security assessment shows you where action is needed and which measures make the most sense for your business as a priority.

FAQ

IT security, NIS2 and Microsoft Security: common questions

Is our organisation affected by NIS2?

This is determined in two steps. Firstly: Does any of your business activities fall under one of the types of organisation listed in Annex 1 or Annex 2 of the BSIG? Secondly: Do you meet the size thresholds, i.e. at least 50 employees, or an annual turnover and balance sheet total of more than 10 million euros each? Only when both criteria are met are you subject to the Act. The scope of application currently covers around 29,500 companies in Germany, many of which operate in the manufacturing sector, logistics, retail and the healthcare sector.

What is the difference between a key facility and a critical facility?

The category is determined by a combination of sector and size. Only organisations that fall under a category of organisation listed in Annex 1 and meet the higher thresholds – that is, those with 250 or more employees, or an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euros and a balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euros – are regarded as particularly important organisations. All other organisations covered by Annexes 1 and 2 are classified as important organisations. The main difference relates to supervision: proactive auditing by the BSI on the one hand, and event-driven supervision on the other.

Does mechanical engineering fall within the scope of NIS2?

Yes, provided the size thresholds are met. Mechanical engineering is listed in Annex 2 of the BSIG under the manufacturing sector, defined by NACE Division 28. The same applies to the manufacture of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, other vehicle construction, electrical equipment, and data processing equipment and electronic products. Enterprises listed in Annex 2 are important facilities, not particularly important ones.

We exceeded the turnover threshold just once last year. Are we affected now?

Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC applies to the determination of the number of employees, annual turnover and balance sheet total. According to this, exceeding or falling short of the thresholds only counts if it occurs in two consecutive financial years. A single strong financial year therefore does not automatically bring a company within the scope of the directive.

Is ISO 27001 certification sufficient for NIS2?

It is not automatic, but it goes a long way. The areas of action set out in Section 30 of the BSIG largely correspond to the ISO 27001 requirements. In addition, particular attention should be paid to registration with the BSI, the obligations to report security incidents, and the duties of senior management.

Are the directors personally liable?

Yes. The BSIG explicitly places a duty on the governing bodies of particularly important and key organisations, both in terms of monitoring implementation and providing their own training. NIS2 is therefore not purely an IT matter, but a management responsibility.

We already have an IT service provider. Why collana?

Because we understand your business applications. Authorisations in the ERP system, data flows between ERP, CRM and the online shop, interfaces with partners: these are vulnerabilities that a pure infrastructure service provider rarely takes into account. We work alongside you, not as a replacement.

Where shall we start?

With a status review. Our IT security assessment provides you with a clear overview of where you stand, which vulnerabilities are critical, and the order in which you should address them.

Ready to enhance your IT security to strengthen in a targeted way?

Whether it’s NIS2, Microsoft Security or authorisation models in ERP: let’s take a look at your current situation together and work out which measures make sense for your business. We’ll discuss the next steps in a no-obligation initial consultation.