Datadog · Google Cloud monitoring
Google Cloud monitoring in Saudi Arabia: GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL and BigQuery in one Datadog view
Google Cloud monitoring tells you whether the services your business runs on Google Cloud are healthy, what they cost, and which change slowed them down. Datadog reads Google's Cloud Monitoring data through its Google Cloud integration and puts it beside host, container, trace and log data from the Datadog Agent, so GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL and BigQuery can be read on one screen, including workloads in the Dammam region. Interkey is a Google Cloud partner and an official Datadog partner in Saudi Arabia: we sell Datadog licences, connect your projects, tune dashboards and alerts, and provide technical support from Riyadh.
In short
- What it covers: GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, Compute Engine and other Google Cloud services.
- How data is collected: the Google Cloud integration reads Cloud Monitoring through a service account with read-only roles; the Datadog Agent adds hosts, containers, traces and logs.
- Who it is for: teams running production on Google Cloud, in Dammam or elsewhere.
- How it is billed: per Datadog product unit (hosts, containers, log volume); see our Datadog pricing guide.
- What Interkey does: one team for both sides, as a Google Cloud partner and a Datadog partner: licences, set-up, dashboards, alerts and support.
At a glance: what Cloud Monitoring gives you and what Datadog adds
Cloud Monitoring is Google's own monitoring service, and it stays. The question is whether one team can read services, applications and the bill together.
| Area | Already in Google Cloud (Cloud Monitoring) | What Datadog adds |
|---|---|---|
| Service metrics | Metrics per service and project | The same metrics beside every other source, including on-premise systems |
| Hosts and containers | VM and GKE metrics | The Agent on VMs and GKE nodes: processes, containers and more real-time Kubernetes metrics |
| Application traces | Cloud Trace, set up per service | APM traces linked to the pod or Cloud Run service that served the request |
| Logs | Cloud Logging per project | Logs forwarded through Pub/Sub and Dataflow, next to metrics and traces |
| Cost | Cloud Billing reports | Your BigQuery billing export beside usage and performance |
| Alerts | Alerting policies per project | Monitors on shared tags across projects, routed to the owning team |
What GCP monitoring has to cover
A typical application on Google Cloud has a GKE cluster or a few Cloud Run services, a Cloud SQL database, Pub/Sub topics and a BigQuery dataset. When a customer reports a slow page, GCP observability only helps if those layers can be read together.
Good Google Cloud monitoring tools cover four things: the health of each Google service; what runs inside nodes and containers; the path of a request; and cost, because a change in usage is a change in the bill. Datadog covers all four, tied together by the same tags.
How the Datadog GCP integration monitors each service
Some data comes through the integration with nothing installed; some needs the Agent or Datadog's serverless instrumentation.
| Google Cloud service | How Datadog collects it | What you can see |
|---|---|---|
| Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) | The integration for GKE and control plane metrics; the Agent on every node | Clusters, nodes, pods and containers, with logs and traces |
| Cloud Run | The integration for metrics and logs; Datadog's Serverless Agent inside the service | Requests, latency and instances; enhanced and custom metrics; traces |
| Cloud SQL | Integration metrics; Database Monitoring through an Agent that connects remotely, on supported engines such as PostgreSQL | CPU, memory, disk and connections, and the queries behind a slow application |
| BigQuery | Integration metrics | Query counts and times, slot utilisation and bytes scanned |
| Compute Engine | Integration metrics and labels; the Agent on each VM | VM health, processes, disks and services on the host |
| Pub/Sub and Cloud Storage | Integration metrics | Backlog and throughput per subscription; bucket activity |
Datadog says metrics appear about 15 minutes after set-up, and recommends the Agent for low-latency metrics. Interkey agrees with you which services need that faster path.
GKE monitoring and Cloud Run: where most of the work is
GKE monitoring. Google manages the GKE control plane, so its metrics come through the integration, not through an Agent in the cluster. The Agent runs on every node, through Helm or the Datadog Operator, and adds Kubernetes metrics, logs and APM; GKE Autopilot needs extra settings, such as explicit resource requests. Our Kubernetes monitoring design guide sets out Interkey's reference design.
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Cloud Run. The integration gives service metrics and logs; for traces and custom metrics, Datadog's Serverless Agent is added to each service through your build pipeline.
Cloud SQL and BigQuery. For Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, the Agent does not run on the database: it connects to it from a small VM or from the cluster. That shows the queries behind a slow application. For BigQuery, Datadog notes that bytes-billed metrics arrive with a six-hour delay.
GCP alerting and logs across projects
Datadog recommends connecting the integration at organisation or folder level, so new projects are discovered as they are created. Filters decide what is collected: by service, region, or a label such as datadog:true.
Logs leave Cloud Logging through a log sink to a Pub/Sub topic, and a Dataflow job built from Datadog's template forwards them. The sink's filter decides which logs leave your projects at all. Our Datadog log management page covers keeping log volume in budget. GCP alerting then works on shared tags, routed to the team that owns each service.
RelatedDatadog log management page
Where teams in Saudi Arabia use it
- A customer-facing application on GKE in Dammam. One dashboard per service: its pods, Cloud SQL instance and traces.
- APIs on Cloud Run. Latency and errors per service, with traces showing which downstream call is slow.
- A reporting platform on BigQuery. Slot use and bytes scanned per project.
- An estate split between Google Cloud and a local data centre. The Agent runs in both, so one view covers both.
- A migration in progress. The same dashboards before and after each move; see our cloud migration page.
Relatedcloud migration page
The Dammam region, data residency and one team for both platforms
Google Cloud runs a region in Dammam (me-central2). Google sets a reseller route for organisations billed in Saudi Arabia, and that route is also the way into Dammam; our Google Cloud in Saudi Arabia guide explains that route. Check Google's product list for me-central2 before you design; the Datadog integration reads Dammam projects like any other region.
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. Logs and labels can hold personal data, so Interkey agrees with your security team what the sink sends and which fields are removed.
As both a Google Cloud partner and a Datadog partner, Interkey's engineers design your landing zone and build its monitoring as one team. Support comes from Riyadh, in Arabic and English.
How a Google Cloud monitoring project runs with Interkey
-
Map the estate.
Organisation, folders, projects, regions and services per application.
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Quote the licences.
The Datadog products you need, quoted with implementation and support.
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Connect the projects.
A read-only service account at organisation or folder level, reviewed by your security team.
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Set up log forwarding.
Sink, Pub/Sub and Dataflow, with filters agreed first.
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Roll out the Agent.
GKE and Compute Engine first, then Cloud Run and Database Monitoring.
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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, then operate or hand over.
Alert, log and cost volume after the first weeks; then Interkey operates it from Riyadh, or hands over and stays on as support.
Google Cloud cost beside performance, and what drives the bill and the timeline
Datadog Cloud Cost Management reads the detailed usage cost export that Google Cloud Billing writes to BigQuery. Datadog says data can take 48 to 72 hours to stabilise after set-up, and ingests up to 15 months of history that exists in the export; a new export starts with only the last two months. The value is cost next to usage: a GKE node pool that grew after a release, or a BigQuery dataset whose scanned bytes doubled. See our Datadog cloud cost management page.
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There are two bills to plan. Datadog's depends on hosts, containers and services monitored, logs indexed and kept, and products added; our Datadog pricing guide sets out how each is billed. On the Google side, check Google's own pricing for Cloud Monitoring API reads, Pub/Sub and Dataflow, billed to your Google Cloud account through your reseller.
The timeline is an estimate, not a promise. Service metrics usually arrive within days; the Agent, log forwarding and tags typically take a few weeks. The drivers are the number of projects, your pipeline and security reviews.
Questions buyers ask
Do we keep Google Cloud Monitoring if Datadog watches our GCP projects?
Yes. Cloud Monitoring stays the source of Google service metrics, and Datadog reads them through its Google Cloud integration. What changes is where your team reads and alerts on them.
What permissions does Datadog need in our Google Cloud organisation?
A service account that Datadog impersonates, with read-only roles such as Monitoring Viewer, Compute Viewer, Cloud Asset Viewer and Browser, and a few APIs enabled. Your security team reviews it before anything is connected.
Can Datadog monitor GKE Autopilot clusters and Cloud Run services?
Yes. Autopilot needs a few extra Agent settings, such as explicit resource requests. Cloud Run is read through the integration, and Datadog's Serverless Agent adds traces and custom metrics.
Does Google Cloud monitoring data stay in Saudi Arabia with Datadog?
Not today. Your workloads can run in Dammam, but as of November 2026 Datadog lists no Middle East site. Interkey designs the log sink filters and field removal, so personal data stays out of what is sent.
Who sells us Google Cloud and who sells the Datadog licences in KSA?
Google Cloud is bought through the reseller route Google sets for Saudi Arabia. Interkey, a Google Cloud partner, does the engineering, and sells Datadog licences in the Kingdom, quoted with implementation and support.
How long does it take to set up Google Cloud monitoring with Datadog?
Service metrics usually arrive within days of connecting the projects. The Agent, log forwarding and tagging typically take a few weeks, depending on projects, pipelines and security reviews.
Next
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Next step
Connect your Google Cloud projects to Datadog
Tell us how many Google Cloud projects you run, which services carry your applications (GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, BigQuery), whether they are in Dammam, 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