Strengthening Serverless Performance and Security for Contract Management on AWS
Improving scalability, observability, and cost efficiency for a high-growth LegalTech platform
45% Reduction in API Response Latency
through optimized serverless execution and throttling controls
30% Improvement in Infrastructure Cost Efficiency
via event-driven processing and concurrency optimization
About the Client
A LegalTech company offering a unified platform to manage, sign, and store contracts. Through intelligent workflows, customizable templates, digital signatures, and centralized repositories, it streamlines legal document management and improves operational efficiency for startups and SMEs.
Industry
LegalTech
Years in business
3+ years
Employee count
10+
Presence
India
“Forgeahead helped us modernize our cloud infrastructure in a way that improved scalability, reliability, and overall efficiency for our research platform.”
Dr. Michael Harrington
Chief Information Officer
the need
The client provides a contract lifecycle management platform designed for startups and SMEs, enabling users to create, manage, and store contracts through automated workflows and centralized repositories. As adoption increased, the platform began experiencing scalability and performance challenges within its serverless architecture.
Key issues included managing AWS Lambda cold starts, controlling unpredictable traffic bursts, and maintaining consistent API performance under high concurrency. These limitations directly impacted response times and created variability in user experience during peak usage.
At the same time, operational costs increased due to inefficient request handling and lack of workload buffering mechanisms. Security concerns also emerged due to outdated dependencies and overly broad IAM policies, increasing the risk of unauthorized access and misconfigured permissions.
The objective was to build a resilient serverless architecture that improved performance stability, strengthened security controls, and optimized cost efficiency across the AWS environment.
the solution
Forgeahead implemented an event-driven serverless architecture on AWS to improve scalability, performance, and security across the platform. AWS Lambda was optimized for core application logic, enabling automatic scaling and reducing infrastructure overhead.
To stabilize traffic patterns, Amazon API Gateway throttling was introduced to control request rates and prevent backend saturation during peak loads. This ensured consistent API performance under variable demand.
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and SQS were used to buffer and process high-volume workloads asynchronously, enabling controlled concurrency and reducing processing bottlenecks across services.
AWS X-Ray was integrated to provide distributed tracing and end-to-end observability, improving visibility into performance issues and accelerating root cause analysis.
Security was strengthened through API Gateway request validation and refined IAM role policies, reducing exposure to malformed requests and enforcing stricter access control across the system.
The Impact
Improved API Performance Stability
Controlled throttling and optimized concurrency reduced latency variability during peak usage periods.
Enhanced System Resilience
Event-driven buffering with Kinesis and SQS ensured smooth handling of traffic spikes without service disruption.
Stronger Security Posture
Request validation and IAM governance reduced exposure to malformed inputs and overly permissive access.
Reduced Operational Overhead
Serverless optimization minimized infrastructure management effort and improved resource utilization efficiency.
Better Observability and Debugging
Distributed tracing through AWS X-Ray improved visibility into system behavior and accelerated issue resolution.
Role of AWS
AWS enabled a scalable serverless foundation for the platform by running core logic on Lambda with API Gateway handling secure request management and traffic control through throttling. This ensured consistent performance under varying workloads.
Kinesis Data Streams and SQS enabled asynchronous processing and concurrency control for high-volume workloads, improving system stability during traffic spikes. DynamoDB supported low-latency, scalable data storage for contract workflows.
AWS X-Ray provided distributed tracing and end-to-end observability, improving visibility into service behavior and accelerating issue diagnosis. IAM and API Gateway request validation strengthened security by enforcing strict access controls and filtering malformed requests.
Tech Stack
The backend was built using AWS Lambda and integrated with API Gateway for secure and scalable API management. DynamoDB provided a high-performance NoSQL data layer, supporting low-latency contract operations.
The AWS serverless stack included Lambda, API Gateway, Kinesis, SQS, DynamoDB, and AWS X-Ray, enabling event-driven processing, observability, and scalable data handling.
The system was designed as a fully serverless architecture with emphasis on concurrency control, observability, and security hardening to support high-volume enterprise workloads.