Part 3 - Incident vs. Problem Management: Real-World Lessons for MSPs

Introduction

Every MSP deals with large volumes of tickets. But not all tickets should be treated the same and not all require the same process.

The key to sustainable service delivery is understanding the difference between incident management and problem management, and applying each where they belong.

This article explains the difference in simple, real-world terms and outlines how MSPs can implement both practices effectively.

Incident Management: Fixing What’s Broken Right Now

An incident is an unplanned disruption to a service. The goal is simple: restore service as quickly as possible.

Incident management is reactive by design and MSPs generally excel at it because technicians are skilled problem solvers. But focusing exclusively on incidents leads to a “constant firefighting” culture.

You restore service, but the underlying issue lingers.

Problem Management: Stopping Issues from Coming Back

A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. The goal is root cause elimination.

This practice is proactive, structured, and strategic, but many MSPs neglect it because incidents consume all available time and attention.

The result? The same issues keep resurfacing. Ticket volume increases. Clients grow frustrated. Engineers burn out.

Why Problem Management Matters More Than Ever

Recurring incidents cost money: Every repeat ticket wastes engineering hours, time that could have been spent on proactive work.

Clients expect strategic value, not just reactive support: Problem management demonstrates maturity and builds long-term trust.

It improves stability across multiple clients: A single root cause fix can eliminate dozens or hundreds of future incidents.

Applying the Two Together in MSP Operations

1. Set clear thresholds for when to raise a problem ticket

Examples:

• 3 recurring incidents within 30 days

• A single high-impact outage

• Repeated hardware failures

• Software bugs affecting multiple sites

The threshold triggers consistency, not guesswork.

2. Keep Root Cause Analysis (RCA) lightweight

Not every problem requires a 10-page report. 

Use simple RCA tools like:

• 5 Whys

• Fishbone diagrams

• Trend analysis

• Known Error Database (KEDB)

Practicality beats perfection.

3. Formalize ownership

Problem management must have an accountable owner, not “whoever has time.”

4. Communicate the value to clients

Clients love hearing: “We uncovered the root cause and implemented a permanent fix.”

This reinforces the MSP’s strategic value.

Example: Recurring VPN Disconnects Across Multiple Clients

Eight clients experience intermittent VPN dropouts. Engineers spend hours troubleshooting individual incidents.

After launching a problem investigation, the MSP discovers that all affected clients use the same firewall model with outdated firmware.

Solution:

• apply a firmware update

• standardize the configuration

• update monitoring alerts

Result: incidents drop to zero, saving dozens of hours per month.

Conclusion

Incident management keeps your clients operational. Problem management keeps your teams sane.

MSPs that master both practices deliver more stable, predictable, proactive services, and strengthen client relationships in the process.