While private equity investments and M&A activity seem to be par for the course in the e-discovery industry these days, their aftershocks can sometimes leave the smaller clients on a provider’s roster feeling neglected. But given the high cost of talent, cyber insurance and other business costs at the moment, those customers shouldn’t necessarily count on a wave of modestly proportioned startup vendors coming to the rescue.

“The cost of doing business, the cost of labor, the cost of cyber insurance—these things have just grown so much that the margin compression is beginning to affect the smaller players more than it does necessarily the enterprise providers of somebody with a great deal of scale,” said Hal Brooks, CEO of HaystackID.