Choosing NIS2 software in 2026: criteria instead of a ranking
Search for NIS2 software and you will find lists: the seven best tools, the ten best tools, often published by one of the vendors on the list, which then comes first. We sell software that supports NIS2 too, so we will not rank anyone. These are the criteria we would use if we were buying, with the questions to ask in every demo. Weight them for your own situation, and apply them to us as strictly as to anyone else.
Key takeaways
- NIS2 is more than a control list. Software has to cover scope, registration, reporting deadlines, supply chain and management duties.
- Check scope per legal entity. Groups need applicability checked for each company.
- Reporting needs to work at 2 a.m. on a Saturday. Look for staged reporting with named people, not a form.
- Supply chain means contracts, not just a supplier inventory.
- Ask who does the work. Templates leave it with your team. Agents prepare it for approval.
- Distrust rankings without stated criteria, including ours.
What NIS2 actually asks for
In Germany, the NIS2 duties sit in the BSI Act since 6 December 2025. An entity in scope has to register with the BSI, implement risk management measures in ten areas, report significant incidents in stages within 24 hours, 72 hours and one month, and make management responsible for approving and overseeing the measures, including regular training. Austria’s NISG 2026 follows the same pattern. Our guides on NIS2 in Germany and on checking applicability per entity cover the details.
Software that only offers a list of the ten areas with checkboxes covers a small part of that.
The eight criteria
1. Scope per legal entity
Can the software check applicability for each company in your group, with sector, size, group data and the German rule on IT independence? Ask to see the result for a group with a holding company, a subsidiary abroad and a small company that is out of scope.
2. The ten areas, mapped onto what you have
If you run ISO 27001 or hold a TISAX® label, most of the technical measures exist. Good software reads the NIS2 requirements against your existing controls and shows which are covered, which are partial and which are missing. Ask how a partial match is shown, for example an incident process without the 24-hour step.
3. Staged incident reporting
The early warning is due within 24 hours of becoming aware of a significant incident. Ask the vendor to walk through a Friday-night incident: who is notified, how the significance is assessed, where the draft comes from and who approves the submission.
4. Supply chain, down to the contract
Article 21 requires supply chain security, including the security aspects of relationships with direct suppliers. That lives in contracts. Can the software check supplier contracts for security clauses, incident notification and audit rights? A list of suppliers with risk scores is only the first step.
5. Management duties
Management has to approve the measures, oversee them and take part in training. Look for a documented approval workflow, training records and a status report that a managing director can read in five minutes.
6. Continuous gap checks
A gap analysis once a year finds problems late. Ask how often the software checks coverage and evidence, and what happens when a control drifts, for example when MFA is switched off for a new admin account.
7. Other frameworks on the same control set
Few companies run NIS2 alone. If ISO 27001, TISAX®, DORA or customer questionnaires are on your list, check that they share one control set and one evidence base. Our guide on multi-framework control mapping explains why this matters.
8. Who does the work
This is the criterion that decides the cost of ownership. With template-based software, your team writes and maintains policies, mappings and reports. With AI agents, drafts and checks are prepared for your team to approve. Ask the vendor to show, with your own data, what your team does in a normal week in year two.
Questions for every demo
- Show me the applicability check for a group with three legal entities.
- Show me a partial match between an existing ISO 27001 control and a NIS2 measure.
- Walk me through an incident from first alert to submitted early warning.
- How do you review a supplier contract for NIS2 supply chain requirements?
- What does the management report look like, and how is approval recorded?
- How often do you check for gaps, and how do I see what changed since last week?
- Where is my data hosted, and who can access it?
- What does my team do in a normal week once the program is running?
Typical buying mistakes
- Buying on the feature list. Every vendor lists the ten areas. The difference is in how the work gets done.
- Ignoring reporting until the first incident. Test the process before you need it.
- Treating NIS2 as a separate project from ISO 27001 or TISAX®. Two programs double the work.
- Trusting rankings without criteria. If a list does not say how it ranked, it cannot be checked.
If you want to see how GetTeddy answers these questions, our NIS2 page is a good start, or put them to us in a demo.
