Here Lies Eclipse: How Third-Party Upgrades Can Keep You in the ‘Land of the Living’ With Your Eclipse Distribution Software

There’s a website called the ERP Graveyard that chronicles all of the iterations of business software that have been sold or retired. As you may have guessed, Eclipse has quite the presence in the graveyard. At last check, Eclipse has three tombstones of its own.

Eclipse was written in 1991. It has never been re-written. Think back to what computers and integrated “systems” looked like in 1991. The underlying software (and the updates released to patch issues as they arise) has done the job that you’ve needed it to. If it hasn’t, you’ve been able to add on integrated software services from third parties that work in conjunction with Eclipse. Chances are, your business carried on fine without a significant overhaul in Eclipse’s platform.

Eclipse was not originally intended to integrate with other software. Third parties have found ways to improve upon the core software and Eclipse service offerings. This is what Zerion has done for the past 11 years by providing consulting, training and optimization for Eclipse customers.

There is no doubt that Eclipse has a place in the business operations of hard goods distributors. Eclipse is very adept at order entry, navigation, RF, direct shipments, lot billing and rebates. However, Eclipse cannot be – and never has been – all things to all people.

Even with code updates, Eclipse has not excelled at encompassing the core ERP processes. It also does not handle EDI, website orders, credit card processing, business intelligence, and pricing. One area of particular concern for Eclipse customers is the software’s limitations when it comes to e-commerce applications. These shortcomings have opened up an opportunity for several third-party applications and even Zerion to successfully extend Eclipse’s functionality. These options include:

Phocas
Profit2
EzyRecon
Descartes
Innovo
Nordops 
Pathguide  
Blue Ridge 
Thrive Technologies
Apex Supply Chain Locker Systems 
Amazon FBA and Amazon Vendor Central 
Rocket Cloud 
Connexium 
...and several other EDI Integrations

As we have seen over time, these types of third-party function upgrades will only continue to increase in demand. Zerion is excited to offer  products that  enhance the functionality of what your business can do in and with Eclipse distribution software, bringing your ERP software into the 21st century and out of the graveyard.

If you are wondering how to get the most out of your Eclipse distribution software, contact Zerion to speak to a specialist now!