Datadog · Azure monitoring
Azure monitoring in Saudi Arabia: AKS, App Service, Azure SQL and Functions in one Datadog view
Azure monitoring tells you whether the applications your business runs on Microsoft Azure are healthy, what they cost, and which change slowed them down. Datadog reads Azure Monitor through its Azure integration and puts it next to host, container, trace and log data, so AKS, App Service, Azure SQL, Azure Functions and virtual machines can be read on one screen. Interkey is an official Datadog partner in Saudi Arabia: it sells the licences, connects your subscriptions, tunes the dashboards and alerts, and provides technical support from Riyadh.
In short
- What it covers: AKS, App Service, Azure SQL, Azure Functions, virtual machines and the other Azure services your applications use.
- How data is collected: the Azure integration reads Azure Monitor through an app registration with the Monitoring Reader role; the Datadog Agent and tracers add hosts, containers, traces and logs.
- Who it is for: cloud, platform and operations teams running production on Azure.
- How it is billed: per product unit (hosts, containers, functions, log volume); see our Datadog pricing guide.
- What Interkey does: licences, subscription connection, Agent roll-out, tagging, dashboards, alerts and technical support.
At a glance: what Azure Monitor gives you and what Datadog adds
Azure Monitor is Microsoft's own monitoring service and keeps collecting either way. The question is whether one team can read Azure services, the applications on them and the bill together.
| Area | Already in Azure (Azure Monitor) | What Datadog adds |
|---|---|---|
| Azure platform metrics | Metrics per resource, subscription and region | The same metrics through one integration, beside every other source |
| Virtual machines and containers | VM insights and Container insights in the Azure portal | The Agent on VMs and AKS nodes: processes, containers and the services inside them |
| Application traces | Application Insights, set up per application | APM traces linked to the VM, pod, App Service app or function that served the request |
| Logs | Diagnostic settings and Log Analytics workspaces | Logs forwarded from Azure or collected by the Agent, next to metrics and traces |
| Cost | Microsoft Cost Management in the portal | Your Azure cost exports beside usage and performance |
| Alerts | Alert rules per resource or query | Monitors on shared tags across Azure and non-Azure systems, routed to the owning team |
What Azure monitoring has to cover
A typical Azure application has an application gateway, an AKS cluster or App Service apps, a few Azure Functions, an Azure SQL database and storage accounts. When a page is slow, the team needs to know which layer is at fault, and Azure observability only helps if the layers can be read together.
Good Azure monitoring therefore covers four things: the health of each Azure resource, from Azure Monitor; what runs inside VMs, nodes and containers; the path of a request through the application; and cost, because on Azure a change in usage is a change in the invoice. Datadog covers all four on one platform, tied together by the same tags.
How Datadog monitors each Azure service
Collection differs by service. Some data comes through the Azure integration and needs nothing installed; some needs the Agent, a tracer or a package in the application.
| Azure service | How Datadog collects it | What you can see |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Virtual Machines | Azure integration for metrics; the Agent installed with the Azure VM extension on Windows, Linux x64 and Linux Arm VMs | VM health, processes, disks and the services on each machine |
| Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) | The Agent on every node, through the Datadog AKS Cluster Extension, Helm or the Datadog Operator | Clusters, nodes, pods and containers, with workload logs and traces |
| Azure App Service | Azure integration and log forwarding, plus APM instrumentation of the app | Plan and app metrics, application logs and distributed traces |
| Azure Functions | A Serverless Compatibility Layer package and the Datadog tracer for the runtime | Enhanced metrics, traces and custom metrics; logs through the Azure integration |
| Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance | Azure Monitor metrics; Database Monitoring through an Agent on a host that can reach the database | Database health, query metrics, query samples and explain plans |
| Storage, networking and other services | Azure Monitor metrics and resource collection through the integration | Resource metrics and configuration, with logs where diagnostic settings send them |
Datadog documents App Service tracing for Java, Node.js and .NET on Windows and Linux (plus PHP and Python on Linux), and Functions on the Dedicated, Premium, Consumption and Flex Consumption plans. Our infrastructure monitoring page covers the Agent in depth.
AKS monitoring, App Service and Azure SQL: where most of the work is
AKS monitoring. The Agent runs on every node and the Cluster Agent reads the Kubernetes API. Datadog documents AKS-specific settings, such as how the Agent trusts the kubelet certificate; getting this right before an AKS upgrade avoids a gap in data. Tags per workload and the namespaces collected are the other decisions. Our Kubernetes monitoring design guide sets out Interkey's reference design.
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Azure application performance monitoring. On App Service and Functions there is no host to install an Agent on, so the tracer goes into the application, set through app settings in your pipeline. With the same service, environment and version tags, a request can be followed from App Service into a function and on to the database. Our Datadog APM page covers tracing in depth.
Azure SQL. Azure gives no access to the database host, so Datadog Database Monitoring runs from an Agent on a VM or container that can reach the database, with a read-only login. It shows which queries are slow and why. See our database monitoring page.
RelatedKubernetes monitoring design guidedatabase monitoring page
When Azure Monitor is enough, and when Datadog adds value
Azure Monitor is often enough when everything runs on Azure, one team owns it, and the need is platform metrics and alerts per resource. A second platform would then add a second bill and a second place to look.
The Datadog Azure integration earns its place when the estate is wider than Azure: applications that also run in a local data centre or on another cloud, several subscriptions owned by different teams, on-call engineers who need one screen for a service rather than one portal per resource, or managers who want cost read next to performance. In that set-up Azure Monitor keeps collecting, and Datadog becomes the place your teams read, search and alert.
Azure cost monitoring beside performance
On Azure, a scaling decision is also a spending decision. Datadog Cloud Cost Management reads the actual and amortised cost exports that Azure writes to a storage account, at billing account, subscription or resource group scope. Datadog says cost data can take up to 24 hours to appear, 48 to 72 hours to settle, and that up to 15 months of available history is ingested. Pay-as-you-go subscriptions, Datadog notes, generally lack the export types it needs.
The value is cost next to usage: a node pool that grew after a release, or an App Service plan scaled up and never scaled back. See our Datadog cloud cost management page.
Azure regions, data residency and local support in Saudi Arabia
Microsoft has announced a datacenter region in Saudi Arabia. Check Microsoft's own list of Azure regions for its status and services before planning around it. The Datadog integration reads Azure Monitor for the subscriptions you connect, so it covers resources in whichever Azure regions are available to your organisation, including one in the Kingdom once you use it.
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Monitoring data has its own location question. Datadog is SaaS, and as of November 2026 its documented sites are in the US, Germany, Japan, Australia and the UK, none in the Middle East. Azure metrics rarely hold personal data, but logs and tags can, so Interkey agrees with your security team what is collected and which fields are removed first. Support comes from Interkey's engineers in Riyadh, in Arabic and English.
How an Azure monitoring project runs with Interkey
-
Map the estate.
Tenants, subscriptions, regions, and the Azure services each business application uses.
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Quote the licences.
The Datadog products you need, quoted with implementation and support.
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Connect the subscriptions.
An app registration with Monitoring Reader, through the Cloud Shell script or Terraform, reviewed by your security team.
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Roll out the Agent and tracers.
VMs and AKS first, then App Service apps, Functions and Azure SQL, through your pipeline.
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Agree tags, then build.
One standard for service, environment, version and owner; then service dashboards and alerts.
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Review noise and cost.
Alert volume, log volume and log forwarding costs, after the first weeks in production.
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Operate or hand over.
Interkey operates the platform from Riyadh, or hands it over and stays on as technical support.
What drives the cost and the timeline
There are two bills to plan. Datadog's depends on the hosts, containers and functions monitored, the log data you index and keep, and the products you add; our Datadog pricing guide sets out how each is billed. On the Azure side, log forwarding uses Azure resources such as storage and compute in your subscription, billed by Microsoft.
The timeline is an estimate, not a promise. Connecting subscriptions and getting Azure platform metrics usually takes days; rolling the Agent and tracers across clusters, apps and functions, and agreeing the tags, typically a few weeks. The drivers are the number of subscriptions and teams, your pipeline, and how fast security reviews finish.
Questions buyers ask
Do we keep Azure Monitor if Datadog monitors our Azure estate?
Yes. Azure Monitor stays the source of Azure platform metrics and many logs, and Datadog reads them through its Azure integration. What changes is where your team reads, searches and alerts on them.
What permissions does the Datadog Azure integration need?
An app registration with the Monitoring Reader role on the subscriptions or management groups you choose. Setting it up needs higher rights once, such as Owner on the subscription. Your security team reviews it before anything is connected.
Can AKS, App Service and Azure Functions be monitored in one view?
Yes. Each is collected differently: the Agent on AKS nodes, and a tracer inside App Service apps and functions. With one tagging standard, they appear together per service, beside Azure SQL and VMs.
Does Azure monitoring data stay in Saudi Arabia with Datadog?
Not today. As of November 2026, Datadog lists no Middle East site. Interkey designs what is collected and which fields are removed, so personal data stays out of logs and tags.
How do we buy Datadog licences for Azure monitoring in KSA?
Interkey sells Datadog licences in Saudi Arabia and quotes them with implementation and support. Each product has its own billing unit; our Datadog pricing guide has the list prices.
How long does Azure monitoring take to set up?
Azure platform metrics usually arrive within days of connecting a subscription. Rolling out the Agent and tracers typically takes a few weeks, depending on subscriptions, pipelines and security reviews.
Next
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Next step
Connect your Azure subscriptions to Datadog
Tell us how many Azure subscriptions you run, which services carry your applications (AKS, App Service, Azure SQL, Functions) and whether Datadog is already in use. We can quote the licences, the set-up and technical support together.
Or directly
+966-11-2180999 [email protected]Tawuniya Towers, North Tower, 7th Floor, King Fahad Highway, Olaya, P.O. Box 56835, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia