In many ways 2019 has been an incredible year of growth for SciChart, and I wanted to take the time to sit down and list our achievements this year, so we can show you where and how we are investing in your future applications.
Many customers are delighted with our software, and we consistently receive a 5* rating on external review sites. With this year’s improvements we will help you create innovative, cutting-edge charting applications with incredible performance, helping you win business & outpace your competitors.
Without further ado, here’s a recap of the incredible strides forward our team has made in 2019, plus a look forward to what’s coming in 2020.
Releases and Updates this year
Jan 2019
Last year we made the decision to invest all the previous year’s profits and into hiring staff, to expand and grow the business.
We hired several WPF developers on the SciChart team plus web developers for the site, and we made plans to further expand throughout the year.
In January we also added search-as-you-type to the forum to improve self-help. You can now get suggestions as you type a question, reducing our support load and increasing your speed of finding answers.
The decision to support Metal was an easy one for us, and had caused more than one competitor to quit supporting their products. However, with SciChart we are now future-proof and our real-time charts will work on future versions of iOS without OpenGL ES.
In February we also announced the features request system which allowed our users to request, vote on and comment on feature-requests. This would allow us to listen to our customers and give you more of what you wanted (those of you with active support subscriptions).
We dealt with 3 separate website DDOS attacks and closed out loopholes on the site where bots were overwhelming our systems. Security is high on our list of priorities.
We hired Sales staff to assist with enterprise sales and grow our business, 2D/3D game developers to develop our fast, cross-platform graphics engine as well as staff to deal with first-line tech support.
We also compiled our 3D Engine for the web and demonstrated how SciChart could be used in Javascript applications. Not only will we be able to support javascript charts in the future, but our unique proposition of re-using a C++ graphics engine for web browsers means we can outpace competitors and provide truly real-time 2D/3D graphs for web applications in the future.
We’d spent the year working hard and by now were finishing up SciChart WPF v6, publishing a tech demo of how you can render 1 Billion Points in real-time with the upcoming version. SciChart can literally now make impossible projects possible, and our performance is beyond world-class, enabling a whole host of new cutting-edge data-visualisation applications.
We made further new hires, including a Javascript tech lead who’s initial job was to sort out the Cross Platform Licensing Wizard, now in BETA and future will be leading the development of our web charts.
November 2019
The updates started to come thick and fast this month with a BETA of SciChart WPF v6 announced, featuring our new rendering engine ‘Visual Xccelerator’ with up to 100x faster charts plus .NET Core 3 support. Although we had market leading performance already, some of our clients needed more as speed of visualisation was critical to optimising their applications and workflows.
Soon after a BETA of SciChart Mobile v3, with 3D Charts, performance improvements and documentation improvements on the iOS, Android and Xamarin platforms.
Behind the scenes we had been re-architecting our licensing and e-commerce systems to scale, as at the start of the year we started to experience problems with the load & volume of users. So by December we seamlessly rolled out a new customer management and licensing system, now on a scalable Azure Functions based Micro-services architecture.
Built entirely in-house, the new system offers scalability plus a host of new features for us to issue licenses and perform business functions more efficiently.
The new licensing mechanism will enable us to know who is an active developer of SciChart and who is not, so that we can efficiently focus our technical support and feature-requests on customers with active support subscriptions, providing more value to our paid users.
Support Stats
So we built a heck of a lot of new technology in 2019! But not only that, we also handled a huge amount of technical support.
Our team efficiently managed 1,521 sales requests (4.6 per day)
1,063 support tickets (3.2 per day), each with tens of emails back & forth with tens of thousands of emails read & sent.
Added a whole host of new automated testing to our applications, streamlining further the build, QA and deployment processes to be more efficient in the future.
What’s coming soon
On Jan 6th 2020, we intend to launch SciChart WPF SDK v6 and SciChart Mobile SDK v3. Having been through a solid BETA phase and collected customer feedback, we have tested out both the chart software and the new licensing mechanism and we are finally ready to make the launch. We will do this at the start of the new year when everyone is back in the office!
Next year we will also be building out our roadmap. We intend to bring you fast realtime 2D/3D charts for MacOS as well as SciChart for web, based on our 2D/3D engine compiled to web assembly. This will be a cutting edge advancement on competitor charts on both platforms, since our shared, cross-platform C++ graphics engine enables impossible levels of performance & low CPU/memory usage in charting applications.
We also have new products being announced, and with the launch of SciChart SDK v6 we will be making changes to pricing and licensing of our software. These are detailed below.
WPF Product Pricing Changes in 2020
SciChart WPF 2D Pro – $1299
The price of SciChart WPF 2D Pro will rise from $1099 to $1499 in Jan 2020, with introductory pricing at $1299 for early adopters. This is in-line with inflation over our 7-year history and also in line with our closest competitors.
All customers with SciChart WPF 2D Pro licenses in support subscription will be upgraded for free to v6. Also, as a bonus to our valued customers, all licenses of SciChart WPF 2D Pro will get the new DirectX Visual Xccelerator Engine included, with up to 100x faster WPF Charts, when DirectX was previously only included in the higher priced SciChart WPF 2D Enterprise and SDK editions.
SciChart WPF 2D Enterprise – Discontinued
SciChart WPF 2D Enterprise will be discontinued in Jan 2020. Existing license holders will receive support, updates and the source-code of SciChart WPF 2D until their support expiry. After that, the option will be given to downgrade to SciChart WPF 2D Pro at the renewal cost (50% of list price), or upgrade to SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise if you wish to continue to have access to source-code (see below).
SciChart WPF SDK Pro – $2099
The price of SciChart WPF SDK Enterprise will rise from $1749 to $2422 on 1st Jan, with introductory pricing at $2099 for early adopters. This is in-line with inflation and also in line with our closest competitors.
All SciChart WPF SDK Pro licenses purchased before the launch will be upgraded for free to this product tier and will receive 2D & 3D Charts as well as the DirectX Visual Xccelerator Engine with up to 100x faster WPF Charts.
With SciChart WPF SDK Pro, you will be able to create demanding scientific & financial applications in both .NET Framework and .NET Core 3 using our powerful hardware accelerated rendering engine.
SciChart WPF SDK Enterprise – Discontinued
This product will be discontinued in Jan. Existing license holders will receive support, updates and the source-code of SciChart WPF 2D/3D until their support expiry. After that, the option will be given to downgrade to SciChart WPF SDK Pro at the renewal cost (50% of list price), or upgrade to SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise (see below).
Mobile Product Pricing Changes
SciChart iOS 2D Pro, or SciChart Android 2D Pro – $999
SciChart iOS 2D Pro and SciChart Android 2D Pro will each increase in price from $599 to $999 our launch in Jan 2020. With version 3 of our mobile charts, we now offer a feature complete mobile chart with full documentation, Xamarin 2D/3D chart support and extreme performance for enterprise scientific, medical & financial applications.
By pricing to reflect the high level of R&D that goes into these cutting-edge realtime high performance chart controls we will be able to support them for years to come, and make your impossible mobile projects possible.
SciChart iOS & Android 2D Pro – Discontinued
The dual license of combined SciChart iOS & Android 2D pro will be discontinued, however the closest new license type will SciChart Bundle 2D Pro.
Existing license holders will receive support, updates of SciChart iOS/Android 2D Pro until their support expiry. After that, the option will be given to upgrade to SciChart Bundle 2D Pro at the renewal cost (50% of list price), which includes 2D Charts on all platforms. (see below).
This product will be discontinued in Jan. Existing license holders will receive support, updates and the source-code of SciChart iOS & Android 2D until their support expiry. After that, the option will be given to downgrade to upgrade to SciChart Bundle 2D Pro at the renewal cost (50% of list price), or SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise (see below).
SciChart iOS SDK Pro, or SciChart Android SDK Pro – $1499
As of Jan 2020, we’re introducing new products for 2D & 3D charts on iOS or Android. SciChart iOS SDK Pro will bring you hardware accelerated 2D & 3D charts on the iOS Platform.
There will also be the option to purchase 2D & 3D Charts on all our platforms together in the Bundle SDK Pro packages (see below).
New Bundle Product Pricing
SciChart Bundle 2D Pro – $1699
From Jan 2020 we will be introducing Bundle editions as flagship products.Bundle 2D Pro will include our 2D Charts across all platforms – WPF, iOS, Android, as well as future platforms that we build (during a valid support subscription).
All licensees of SciChart Bundle 2D Pro will receive our WPF charts with DirectX Visual Xccelerator Engine, iOS/Android charts with Metal/OpenGL hardware acceleration and free kick-off meetings with 5+ licenses. Some additional business benefits such as account managers and 2hrs free consultancy are available for site license customers.
SciChart Bundle SDK Pro – $2499
Buyers of the new SciChart Bundle SDK Pro will receive our 2D & 3D Chart components across all platforms – WPF, iOS, Android, as well as future platforms that we build (during a valid support subscription).
All licensees of SciChart Bundle SDK Pro will receive our 2D/3D WPF charts with DirectX Visual Xccelerator Engine, iOS/Android charts with Metal/OpenGL hardware acceleration and free kick-off meetings with 3+ licenses. Some additional business benefits such as account managers and 4hrs free consultancy are available for site license customers.
SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise – $2999
Buyers of the new SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise will receive our 2D & 3D Chart components across all platforms – WPF, iOS, Android, as well as future platforms that we build (during a valid support subscription).
This edition will be the only product in our 2020 line up which includes source-code, as the SciChart software is now cross-platform, with much of the codebase in a shared C++ 2D/3D engine.
SciChart Bundle SDK Enterprise will include the C# Source code for WPF 2D & 3D Charts, the Objective-C/Swift source-code for iOS 2D & 3D Charts, the Java source-code for Android Charts and the compiled C++ Visual Xccelerator engine used across platforms. This means you can include the source in your build and modify it, extend it. The C++ Visual Xccelerator Engine source will be held in Escrow for all customers and can be modified with the help of our engineers as part of customisation consultancy.
In addition, many business benefits are found in this tier, including a free kick-off meeting with 2+ licenses, 6-hours free consultancy for site licenses and 15% discount on consultancy work for site license customers.
SciChart SDK v6 Launch Date
We’re now setting January 6th 2020 as our provisional launch date subject to completed BETA testing, at which point we’ll switch over to the new store, new product pricing. All the above are in BETA now and you can test out SciChart WPF v6, as well as SciChart Mobile v3, or the new Cross Platform Licensing Wizard.
Beating the Price Change
If you want to beat the price changes, now is the best time to renew your SciChart licenses.
Get in contact with Sales, check your profile page, or check your email inbox for SciChart Renewal Reminders which contain renewal offers specific to your license. Anyone with an active support subscription will be upgraded to the new version(s) free of charge.
What else is coming next year?
We hinted above at the roadmap and what we’re planning for 2020. With SciChart WPF SDK v6 & Mobile SDK v3 out the way we plan to build the following with our world-class team.
Bringing SciChart to MacOS
Our iOS charts written in Objective-C, Swift and using our cross-platform C++ 2D/3D graphics engine are mostly portable to MacOS. In the past year we have refactored a lot of the code to make the transition to Mac desktop easier. In 2020 you can look forward to hardware-accelerated (Metal, OpenGL) 2D & 3D Charts on Mac desktop applications. This will enable real-time, big-data applications in Finance, Medical, Scientific, Engineering or business sectors on Mac Desktop, and brings us closer to our cross-platform vision for SciChart. We estimate release of this will be earlier in the year, possibly end Q1.
Bringing SciChart to the Web
As previously announced, our 2D/3D graphics engine compiles to and is compatible with WebAssembly, WebGL. We are now starting in earnest to build javascript APIs for SciChart.js – a fast 2D/3D realtime chart control for the web. The huge advantage we have over competitors is that our proprietary cross-platform technology provides fast 2D/3D graphics on all platforms and our web charts, when available, will outperform all known javascript chart vendors due to the use of the above cutting-edge technology.
We estimate release of this will be later in the year, possibly Q3/Q4, and will announce early access previews as soon as we can.
Rollout of Consultancy Services
From time to time, SciChart carries out consultancy and customisation services for our users, where you can hire members of our team for a specific time to solve difficult problems in your applications. Our main areas of expertise include:
SciChart integration, customisation, building custom features.
Performance analysis, in-depth performance tuning of Windows (C#, C++), Mobile (Objective-C, Swift, Java Android) or Xamarin applications.
A wide range of languages and tools including C#, C++, Objective-C, Swift, Kotlin, Java, Javascript, React, T-SQL, WPF, Xamarin, Azure Functions, Rest, Websockets, Encryption & security.
3D Graphics, using DirectX, OpenGL, WebGL or Metal.
Application user-interface development.
Server side & Azure development.
Complex problem solving!
Improvement of Internal Systems
As a customer you don’t see much of our internal systems, nor should you, but we spend a lot of effort making the business as efficient as possible using software. For example, the search-as-you-type on the Forums needs to be brought to the support desk. The general user experience of opening a support ticket needs to be improved. Activation/deactivation of licenses needs to be as smooth as possible, plus, e-commerce integration to allow easy purchasing, renewing and upgrading of licenses.
Throughout the next year we plan to invest in all the above and continue to bring out our cross-platform Vision for SciChart. After that, applications and services which use charts!
And finally …
So, for this year, we hope you see we’ve been working extremely hard to bring you the best possible 2D/3D charting software, having achieved some records, awards, accolades and more and we plan to keep doing so in the new year!
Thank you to all our customers who have supported us this year, reviewed us, encouraged us and of course purchased from us. We hope to make you very pleased about your purchasing decisions in the coming 12 months!
CEO / Founder of SciChart.
Masters (MEng) and PhD in Electronics & Signal Processing.Follow me on LinkedIn for more SciChart content, or twitter at @drandrewbt.
Queens Award for Innovation Proud winners of the Queens Award for Innovation, 2019. Awarded on account of our innovative graphics engine which underpins the SciChart library and enables our world-beating charting performance
National Business Awards Highly Commended for Lloyds National Business Awards, 2019. Awarded on account of our innovative graphics engine and impressive customer base
Reviews SciChart has received hundreds of verified, 3rd party reviews
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