SERV Strengthens System Reliability, Security, and Performance Using AWS
Learn how an Australian data insights and technology company modernized property data services through AWS, boosting system reliability and delivering faster, more reliable access to critical property data.
Benefits
50%
reduction in system performance incidents99.99%
system availability99%
of property data requests retrieved within seconds—a 50% improvement since 20183x
increase in release frequencyOverview
Secure Electronic Registries Victoria (SERV) is continuing the modernization of Australia's 160-year-old government-owned Victorian Register of Land, the backbone of Victoria's property market -- processing over 2.5 million title searches, 1 million State government and other property information certificates, up to 1 million land transactions annually.
Prior to SERV’s involvement, the State Government department responsible for the Register began migrating land registry applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS). SERV then completed the transition, laying the groundwork for phased modernization. By adopting serverless, modular architectures based on microservices, the company has reduced costs, improved performance, and increased flexibility. SERV has also accelerated the release frequency of land registry systems by 12 times, improving responsiveness to customer needs.
SERV's modernization of the land registry has helped it scale with rising demand as property transactions have become increasingly digitized. Banks, conveyancers, and citizens now benefit from faster property searches, streamlined certificate provisioning, and more reliable title access. Recently, the company has also introduced six fully digital products to benefit the property industry in Australia, improving automation and reporting, and eliminating fulfilment wait times.
By modernizing land registry applications, SERV has positioned itself as a forward-thinking company, delivering faster and more reliable property data access and scalable solutions to meet Victoria’s growing needs.
About SERV
SERV, or Secure Electronic Registries Victoria, is at the nexus of old and new. An innovative data insights and technology company, modernising the systems, operations and customer experience of the 160-year-old government-owned Victorian Register of Land. SERV is vital part of the Victorian economy. They support more than a million property transactions every year, maintain the integrity of one of Australia’s largest registries, and provide vital industry insights. Via SERV access to single source registry data, they develop products, services and solutions that make life easier and personal information more secure for our customers, partners, key stakeholders, and the people of Victoria. SERV would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the local land and waterways, their unique ability to care for Country and deep spiritual connection to it. We pay our respects to Elders past and present whose knowledge and wisdom has ensured the continuation of culture and traditional practices.
Opportunity | Meeting the Needs of a Growing Property Market
As Victoria's property sector expanded, so did the demand for fast, reliable access to property data. When SERV, a commercial entity established in Melbourne in 2018, was granted a 40-year concession deed to operate services and continue modernizing the Victorian Register of Land, the company accelerated digitization and transformation of its systems.
As digital lodgments grew from 50 percent in 2018 to close to 100 percent in 2024, demand for the Registry’s core applications increased significantly. To keep pace, SERV set out to modernize LANDATA, the system used for searches relating to property information. The company also upgraded the Victorian Online Title System (VOTS), which processes all land transactions for the entire State. Brokers, legal professionals, and government agencies rely on these systems for timely, accurate data to complete critical transactions.
The initial migration to AWS in 2018 utilized a "lift and shift" model, moving infrastructure to the cloud without major modifications. While beneficial in the short term, the monolithic structure limited scalability and efficiency under high demand. SERV recognized these constraints and began redesigning land registry systems to improve performance and flexibility.
Solution | Driving Innovation and Agility Using AWS Serverless
SERV identified three key areas to transform the land registry: developing a comprehensive modernization strategy; adopting agile delivery practices; and upskilling the team in serverless cloud services. Working with AWS Partner Shine Solutions Group, SERV achieved a 50 percent decrease in performance issues, and improved system reliability to 99.99 percent.
As part of its phased approach, SERV refactored the monolithic land registry systems into a highly scalable, modular architecture powered by AWS serverless technologies. By transitioning to microservices, the teams could work independently, improve agility, and release updates more frequently with zero downtime. Previously, updates took up to six months—now, changes roll out within a matter of weeks. Development teams can also implement changes during business hours, eliminating weekend maintenance windows and improving work-life balance.
To support scalability, reliability, and security for LANDATA and VOTS, SERV deployed several AWS services. AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) and AWS CloudFormation simplify and automate the deployment of scalable cloud infrastructure, dynamically adapting to increasing transaction volumes. AWS Lambda, Amazon ECS, and AWS Step Functions process property data in real time. The company also utilized Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) to provide fast and reliable data handling for high transaction volumes and extensive property records.
Amazon API Gateway offers seamless and secure real-time access to property databases, enhancing the user experience. Using this solution, SERV introduced the RSS or Register Search Statement (previously a PDF), a key document in Australian property transactions. The solution provides secure title data access, while AWS Lambda processes transactions in real time, making the digitized solution faster and more reliable.
"By leveraging AWS serverless technologies, we are proud to have helped SERV modernize its land registry systems, improving performance, security, and reliability. The new architecture has made it easier to implement changes quickly, enabling faster, more reliable access to critical property data and supporting the evolving demands of Victoria’s property market." - Matt Fraser, General Manager of Engineering, Shine Solutions
Outcome | Raising the Bar for Land Registry Services
Since 2018, SERV has doubled its workforce and reduced reliance on external IT vendors, strengthening in-house expertise. The company continues to work with AWS to upskill employees in data, cybersecurity, cloud technologies, and software development. To foster innovation, SERV hosts annual ‘Garage’ hackathons with AWS and other vendors, alongside AWS Immersion Days—hands-on workshops by AWS experts or partners—that deepen cloud expertise and drive industry solutions.
Looking ahead, SERV is advancing other key government-owned systems linked to the land registry, including Victoria's Land and Survey Spatial Information (LASSI) mapping service. The company is also developing a new LANDATA platform to centralize customer products and improve access to information. SERV's serverless architecture is projected to reduce operational costs by 10-20 percent by December 2025, freeing resources for further innovation. Future initiatives include utilizing Amazon Q to enhance developer productivity through automated code generation, and Amazon Bedrock to scale AI-driven solutions seamlessly.
"Since 2018, we've moved from managing the infrastructure of the Victorian land registry to driving innovation in property data services. Modernizing our core platforms with AWS has enabled us to deliver reliable, real-time access to property data. This transformation has given us the agility to meet the sector's evolving needs in ways that simply weren't possible before,” said Akhil Kakar, Head of Platforms and Architecture, SERV.
Learn More
To learn more, visit aws.amazon.com/government-education/worldwide/australia-new-zealand/.
Since 2018, we've moved from managing the infrastructure of the Victorian land registry to driving innovation in property data services. Modernizing our core platforms with AWS cloud-native architecture has enabled us to deliver reliable, real-time access to property data. This transformation has given us the agility to meet the sector's evolving needs that simply weren't possible before.
Akhil Kakar
Head of Platform Engineering and Architecture, SERVAWS Services Used
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