Is Your Customs Agency Running on a 90s System? The Hidden Risk

Legacy system modernization

It is a common paradox in the ports of Veracruz and Manzanillo: Customs Agencies that move merchandise worth millions of dollars daily, manage huge fleets, and have impeccable offices, but their operational heart is a fossil.

Their traffic and billing system is a gray screen developed in Visual Basic 6 or FoxPro in the year 2002 by “Engineer Juan.”

The system works, yes. But it is slow, does not connect to mobile phones, and only runs on old computers with Windows XP or 7. But the real terror is not the aesthetics; it is the Operational Risk.

That system is a time bomb. “Engineer Juan” has retired or is the only one who knows how it works. If that physical server fails on a Monday morning, or if the database gets corrupted, your agency stops completely. You cannot bill, you cannot validate customs filings, you cannot release cargo.

In software engineering, we call this “Bus Factor 1”: If the only person who understands your system gets hit by a bus (or simply quits), your business enters a mortal crisis.

Legacy system modernization is not an aesthetic luxury; it is life insurance for your company.

“Strangler Fig” Migration Strategy

The reason many agency owners don’t modernize is fear. “If we touch the code, it breaks.” They are right to be afraid of a total rewrite (the famous “Big Bang Rewrite”), which is usually expensive and prone to errors.

At Koud, we use a surgical strategy called the Strangler Fig migration pattern.

Inspired by fig trees that grow around a host tree, we don’t “kill” your old system on day one. We wrap it.

1. Intercept Traffic: We put a modern layer (API Gateway) in front of your old system.
2. Gradual Replacement: We take a small functionality, for example, the “New Client Registration” module. We develop it new in the cloud (React/.NET).
3. Route: When someone registers a client, the API uses the new module. For everything else (Billing, Traffic), it continues using the old system.
4. Repeat: We replace module by module until the old system does nothing, and we can safely turn it off.

Your operation never stops. The patient remains awake during surgery.

Koud: Experts in “Unearthing” Business Logic

The greatest asset of your old system is not the code; it is the Business Rules.

That software has 20 years of patches containing the wisdom of your operation: “If the client is X and the merchandise is steel, apply rate Y, but only if it is Tuesday.”

A team of “Junior” developers will want to throw everything away because “the code is ugly.” By doing so, they will delete those rules, and your new system will be a functional disaster.

At Koud, we act as software archaeologists. We perform Reverse Engineering.

Our senior architects read the old code (yes, we read FoxPro and Cobol) to understand exactly what your business does. We extract that logic, document it, and transfer it to modern technologies, ensuring the new system behaves exactly as you need, but faster and more securely.

Security and Compliance (The SAT Doesn’t Wait)

Old operating systems (Windows Server 2003/2008) no longer receive security patches from Microsoft. They are open doors for Ransomware. If a hacker gets in, they will encrypt your historical database and demand a ransom. With a legacy system, recovery is almost impossible.

Furthermore, the SAT (Mexican Tax Authority) and Customs constantly update their APIs and VUCEM requirements. A system made 15 years ago lacks the flexibility to integrate Carta Porte 3.0 or new foreign trade add-ons quickly.

Modernizing means armoring your clients’ data and ensuring your capacity to comply with tax laws.

Technological Risk Checklist

Check if you identify with any of these situations:

• Does your system only work if you are physically in the office?
• Do you depend on a single external person to fix glitches?
• Do you have to use old versions of Windows for the program to open?
• Do you suffer every time the SAT announces a change in billing?
• If you checked 2 or more, you are in the danger zone.

Conclusion

Don’t wait for the server to “die” to look for a solution. At that moment, urgency will make you spend triple and lose clients. Modernization is inevitable; the only decision is whether you do it planned or forced by a crisis.

At Koud, we respect your operational history, but we give you the tools for the future.

Do you need engineers who respect the past but build the future?

At Koud, we restore your technology without tearing down the facade. Consult our App Modernization services