Sharp Software Solutions
Real-time data · Market data provider

A platform that scales live.

A South African agricultural commodity market data provider needed a trading dashboard with live pricing and advanced charting. The previous system couldn't handle concurrent users and had a 15-minute data lag. We built a replacement that streams live data and scales without breaking.

WebSocketsChartingLive pricingReal-timeMarket data
Case snapshot

From delayed polling to a live platform built for real load.

The platform had to work with a legacy feed, normalise market data in real time, support advanced charting, and stay stable while hundreds of users were connected at once.

Industry

Market data & trading

Region

South Africa

Core tech

WebSockets, Vue, charting

Outcome

Sub-second live updates

The problem

The platform looked live, but the data was not.

The client ran a subscription platform for agricultural traders, farmers, traders, and buyers who needed to track commodity prices across multiple markets in real time. The existing system polled for data every 15 minutes and crashed under load when too many users were connected simultaneously.

The business was losing subscribers to a competitor with a more reliable platform. They needed a replacement that could handle concurrent users, stream data with sub-second latency, and support advanced charting without requiring their subscribers to install anything.

The technical constraints were significant: the data source was a legacy feed with a non-standard format, the charting requirements included candlestick charts with custom indicators, and the platform needed to run on the client's existing infrastructure.

What we built

A WebSocket-driven platform with live charting.

We built a WebSocket-driven platform with a Node.js backend that connected to the legacy data feed, normalised the format in real time, and broadcast updates to connected clients via a pub/sub architecture. The frontend was a Vue.js application with a custom charting layer built on top of a lightweight charting library.

The architecture was designed for horizontal scaling. New instances could be added without reconfiguring clients, and the WebSocket connection handled automatic reconnection with state recovery. Under load testing, the platform handled 800 concurrent connections without degradation.

We also built an admin interface for the client's team to manage data feeds, configure market hours, and monitor platform health, replacing a manual process that had previously required a developer to intervene.

The outcome

Real-time data that held up under real users.

<1s

Data latency from source to screen

800+

Concurrent users without degradation

0

Downtime incidents in first 6 months

The client retained their existing subscriber base and grew it by 35% in the six months following launch. The platform is under an ongoing SLA with SSS for continued development and monitoring.

"We were losing subscribers because our old platform kept falling over. SSS built us something that actually handles real load, and the data is genuinely live."

CEO, South African market data provider