Law firms' tech needs are fast maturing, requiring expertise that some boutique information technology providers just don't possess. It's a situation that's accelerating consolidation in the IT provider market. But while M&A is prevalent, managed service providers said there's still room for boutique IT providers, so long as they carve out a specialized focus. 

When Barry Keno launched Keno Kozie Associates over 30 years ago, law firm software was far simpler for the then-local IT provider. But as the company grew and continued to onboard more firms, Keno said the expertise and resources needed to serve clients was beyond what his company could offer.

"Having scale is very important to meet the needs of the law firm client," Keno said. "I know in our history it was hard to obtain expertise in those things and remaining busy enough to pay the bills. As a larger provider you have resources and a certain amount of scale and capacity so you not only service your clients but also keep up with their technology," he added.