Legacy infrastructure often causes operational delays — a critical issue in the logistics industry, where even minor disruptions can have outsized consequences.
For Allcargo Group, which has more than 300 offices in 180 countries and manages over 2,400 direct trade lanes, operational resilience is essential. To minimise disruption and scale effectively, the company decided to modernise its infrastructure by partnering with Rackspace Technology to deploy Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Grounded in reality
For Kapil Mahajan, Global Chief Information & Technology Officer – IT, Allcargo Logistics, modernising legacy systems is not optional but a strategic necessity.
“In a world where market demands evolve rapidly, legacy infrastructure often stands in the way of the agility, flexibility, and scalability required to stay competitive. These systems also struggle to deliver the resilience needed to ensure uninterrupted service in the face of disruption,” he remarked.
This challenge catalysed the group’s digital transformation, particularly for Allcargo Logistics and its global subsidiary, ECU Worldwide.
“As we progressed, it became clear that our on-premises data centres were becoming a liability. Rising support costs and ageing infrastructure — much of it approaching end of life — were driving up operational overheads and putting pressure on IT budgets. Given the seasonal nature of our business, we needed infrastructure that could scale up during peak demand periods and scale down afterward, without compromising efficiency,” he noted.
Taking flight
To address the limitations of its on-premises infrastructure and support continued growth, Allcargo decided to move to the cloud.
“Through the AWS migration, we aimed to adopt a more flexible, demand-driven compute model, improve information flow across our regional offices, and strengthen overall operational resilience. It’s a key step in building a more connected and efficient digital environment,” Mahajan said.
AWS was selected in part for its support of open-source tools, which helped smooth out integration and improve user experience. To support the transition, Allcargo engaged Rackspace Technology as its cloud implementation partner.
The project involved migrating approximately 530 servers from three on-premises data centres in the United States, Europe, and Asia to AWS. According to Adhil Badat, Managing Director, Asia Pacific and Japan at Rackspace Technology, the migration went beyond a basic lift and shift.
“Working with AWS, we developed a scalable and secure architecture that improved performance and resilience. Close coordination between all three teams helped ensure a smooth migration aligned with ECU Worldwide’s long-term goals,” Badat said.
From a technical standpoint, one of the main challenges was migrating legacy applications and their associated data, many of which had been in use for years.
“Moving not just the code but also large volumes of critical data required detailed planning. We had to decide what to migrate and whether to include historical records or limit it to active datasets. We conducted a full application inventory and took a case-by-case approach,” Mahajan said.
Because of this complexity, the first data centre migration was particularly demanding. However, with a standardised technology stack across sites, the later phases were more straightforward.
Organisationally, Allcargo found the process more manageable thanks to careful planning and regular communication.
“Each data centre migration was scheduled during off-peak hours, typically over weekends, to minimise business impact. We kept stakeholders informed with regular updates. As we approached the go-live phase, we increased coordination with teams handling user acceptance testing and post-migration validation. The program’s top-down support and inclusive structure helped keep everyone aligned and accountable,” Mahajan noted.
In addition to ensuring application readiness and minimising downtime, Badat said that coordinating outages across countries with different working days and hours added complexity. The team also had to address compliance, governance, and risk requirements across various jurisdictions.
The view from above
Following the migration to AWS, Allcargo reported improvements in cost control and operational performance.
“We’ve experienced uninterrupted system availability in recent quarters — a sign of the improved reliability and resilience of our services. Disaster recovery protocols have also been strengthened, offering greater assurance during unexpected disruptions,” Mahajan observed.
With IT teams no longer tied up with routine maintenance and upgrades, their focus has shifted to longer-term initiatives such as process innovation and customer experience improvements.
“The move to AWS has also strengthened our cybersecurity posture. More agile and effective patch management has played a key role in this. At present, our BitSight cybersecurity score stands at over 760, much above the industry average,” he pointed out.
New horizons
Allcargo plans to further expand its use of cloud technologies to improve operations across its business units.
“We’ve made steady progress in preparing our operations for the cloud. Our express logistics business, Allcargo Gati, has migrated its on-premises ERP platform to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. ECU Worldwide, our global less-than-container-load (LCL) consolidation business, has also completed its cloud migration. We now plan to move the CFS-ICD (container freight stations–inland container depots) operations of Allcargo Terminals to the cloud as well,” Mahajan said.
Among the group’s current priorities is transitioning to an open-source architecture. Mahajan said this approach is expected to help lower the company’s total cost of ownership, reduce reliance on licensed software, and speed up innovation.
Over the past 18 months, the company has also been embedding AI tools into core business processes, with early results seen at both Allcargo Gati and ECU Worldwide.
The next step, Mahajan said, is to expand the use of generative AI across the organisation.
“The modernisation of our home-grown ERP platform, Topaz, which has been deployed in over 100 countries, is underway. This involves re-architecting the system around open-source technologies. The next version — called iTopaz, — will evolve with both business needs and new technology. A pilot phase is planned, followed by a phased rollout across countries over the next 24 months,” he revealed.
Allcargo is also using agentic AI to reduce manual effort in some internal processes. It is also applying smart bots and natural language tools to generate insights more quickly and support operational work.
While more logistics companies position themselves as technology-driven, Badat said the real focus should remain on solving core business problems.
“In ECU Worldwide’s case, digital tools have enabled more efficient operations, faster transactions, and better experiences for both customers and employees. This isn’t about chasing trends; it’s about purposefully applying technologies like AI, IoT, predictive analytics, and blockchain to optimise supply chains and support future services,” he said.
