Business Continuity consulting
From contingency plans. Into Business Continuity
Business Continuity is about keeping the business running if the organization is affected by a serious crisis—whether it’s a cyberattack, a major IT outage, or a failure by a key supplier. We help you identify the most critical processes, assess how long operations can withstand a shutdown, develop plans to ensure a rapid recovery, and determine how to continue business operations under degraded conditions.
how we deliver
Get your operations under control before, during and after critical incidents
It is one thing to have contingency plans.
It is quite another to make them work when a critical incident strikes.
Many organizations have already drawn up contingency plans. However, the challenge is that contingency planning is viewed as purely an IT task rather than a management responsibility. This creates uncertainty about the division of responsibilities when an incident occurs, and it often leads to complicated plans that are rarely tested in practice and therefore quickly become outdated.
When contingency measures are not integrated, it is difficult for decision-makers to gain an overview of what has affected the organisation and how best to protect the core business. In core operations, technical staff are busy putting out fires, but they lack a clear overview of how the business has been affected and what needs to be prioritised. Meanwhile, time is ticking away whilst critical systems and services remain down.
We help you establish a link between the threat landscape, business needs, and preparedness. We do this by bringing together strategic, tactical and operational measures, both in the preparation for and the handling of an incident.
Our consultants have practical experience from organisations such as the police, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) and the armed forces. They have faced real-life situations themselves, and that experience makes all the difference when a crisis strikes and operations, finances and reputation are at stake.
Selected services within Business Continuity
Maturity and direction
We assess your maturity in the area of security preparedness in relation to regulatory requirements such as NIS2 and DORA, as well as recognised standards such as ISO 22301. You’ll gain a clear picture of where you stand, and together we’ll draw up a prioritised and realistic plan for the way forward, based on your circumstances and ambitions.
Operational contingency plans
We support you in developing contingency plans that are operational and intuitive, ensuring they provide clarity and drive progress even under extreme pressure. From the overarching contingency plan and playbooks for selected high-risk scenarios such as ransomware, right through to business continuity and disaster recovery plans; all integrated into a single logical framework.
Advice during a crisis
We advise you when you are hit by a major incident and support the crisis manager in establishing an overview and structure when the situation is at its most critical. Naturally, we do this without taking control away from you. We then help with evaluation and the identification of lessons learnt, so that the organisation is stronger next time.
Recovery in Crisis Situations
We support and advise you on strengthening your disaster recovery preparedness. This includes assessing your existing setup against recognised standards, mapping critical systems, dependencies and recovery time objectives (RTO/RPO), or developing specific disaster recovery plans. And we advise you on where your efforts will deliver the greatest value.
Training and exercises
We design, conduct and evaluate exercises and training tailored to your needs and level of ambition. These range from role-play training for key personnel and training for senior management, through to desk-based exercises and full-day or half-day courses involving the entire crisis management team. These exercises can also serve to demonstrate that you meet the testing and training requirements set out in, for example, NIS2.
how we work
Vaern's approach to business continuity
At Vaern, our approach to business continuity is, first and foremost, to ensure that contingency planning reflects the organisation’s needs and the risks it faces. We do this by integrating strategic, tactical and operational security services. Both proactively in preparing for an operational or security incident, and reactively in managing an incident.
When working with an organization, our consultants are often involved at the management or executive level, where an independent assessment of the organization’s preparedness is needed. This can be in the role of a sparring partner for the team responsible for preparedness, or through operational tasks aimed at identifying critical shortcomings.
Our team’s greatest strength lies in the practical experience gained from experience, such as working with bodies like the police, PET and the armed forces. Our consultants have themselves faced high-pressure situations and know how to handle a crisis. That expertise becomes evident when theory and drills one day become reality, and real money and reputations are at stake.
What do you do when a crisis strikes?
System failures, errors and security incidents do happen, and they occur more frequently than one might think. Given the growing uncertainty in the world, robust business continuity plans have quickly become a necessity, regardless of the regulations to which your organisation is subject. When a serious incident occurs, three parallel tracks must be activated within your organisation. Each track represents a distinct security discipline. However, it is crucial that these tracks are activated simultaneously and managed centrally; otherwise, coordination will be lacking.
Strategic level
At the strategic level, a crisis management track must be in operation. Here, your crisis management team leads the organisation through the crisis with a mandate to make decisions, liaise with the authorities, and so on.
Tactical level
At the tactical level, an incident management track must be in place. Here, your security and IT/OT organizations coordinate efforts to both assess the scope of the incident and mitigate it, and to ensure that critical processes can continue while the cause of the incident is eliminated and normal operations are restored.
Operational level
At the operational level, a track must be established where specialists implement the incident response plan so that you can return to normal operations as quickly as possible.
Preparedness isn’t something you talk about. It’s something you practise
Working in a structured way with preparedness means working through the various steps on an escalation ladder. At the lowest steps, your organisation is operating normally. Here, you set out various scenarios in which you practise what needs to happen when you have to deal with a critical incident. From there, you move up the escalation ladder until you reach the pain threshold for the delivery of your core service. It is through the preparation and training for these chaotic scenarios that you can mitigate risks and reduce costs should you end up in emergency mode.
The organisation’s overall resilience can be expressed in four interrelated dimensions:
- A holistic approach to preparedness that encompasses all your staff, processes and supply chains. Not just the IT department’s areas of responsibility.
- Proactive planning that identifies potential threats and assesses their consequences before they arise. This also applies to the protection of supply chains to safeguard against disruptions to critical supplies.
- A minimum operational level that ensures you can maintain an acceptable level of service even if a disaster strikes.
- Building resilience, which improves the organisation’s ability to absorb the damaging effects of a crisis and continue critical functions during and after a crisis with as little and as short-lived a negative impact as possible.
Trusted partner
“I've worked with many consultants over the years. It's rare to find one who can talk business and at the same time be completely immersed in IT technology. But Vaern can do just that. And we benefit from the fact that their advice and deliveries are based on a best practice approach, which is very important to us. Because all the knowledge and experience Vaern has in the security area is available to us through the collaboration.”
Stig Aastrup
Head of Group IT, Saferoad
- Cases
- Business Continuity
- Manufacturing
September 18, 2026
Multi-dimensional security at Saferoad
Multi-dimensional security at Saferoad
- Cases
- Business Continuity
- Public Sector and Defence
September 18, 2026
Integrated risk management in Central Denmark Region
Integrated risk management in Central Denmark Region
- Cases
- Cloud and Platforms
- Financial Services
September 16, 2026
Bankdata builds the workplace of the future
Bankdata builds the workplace of the future
Integrated security brings everything and everyone together in a single model
As the world becomes more complex and unpredictable, there is a growing need for security services that can strengthen organisational resilience. We deliver integrated security because shared objectives, coherence and coordination increase our ability to act and provide the best protection against security incidents.
FAQ
A Business Continuity Plan describes how the organisation maintains critical functions and services during a serious operational disruption or crisis. Among other things, the plan must provide clarity on roles and responsibilities, critical processes, dependencies and emergency procedures. But a plan alone is not enough. It must be known throughout the organisation, integrated with the wider contingency arrangements, and regularly tested and updated if it is to function effectively when a critical incident occurs.
