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Connect to Datadog
Datadog Overview
With Finout's seamless Datadog integration, gain precise cost and usage visibility and monitor expenses daily. Conveniently view your Datadog spend alongside other providers, facilitating easy cost allocation for teams, applications, and environments. Utilize Finout's comprehensive cost governance suite for anomaly detection, budget enforcement, and accurate bill forecasting. The Datadog integration in Finout is based on Usage Attribution Tags (UAT), which enhances the visibility and granularity of Datadog cost and usage data in Finout, providing deeper insights and better control. See Usage Attribution Tags (UAT) documentation for more information.
Integration Types: UAT (Default) and Custom Tags
Finout supports two types of Datadog integrations based on account configuration: UAT Integration (Default) and Custom Tags Integration. These integrations differ in how they retrieve and break down data, leading to functional differences. UAT Integration brings both cost and usage data into Finout, allowing for detailed breakdowns using Usage Attribution Tags (UATs), Datadog organizations, and regions. This method ensures accurate and consistent data tagging across all Finout features while supporting multiple Datadog products, making it the preferred integration. Custom Tags Integration, on the other hand, retrieves only cost data and relies on user-defined custom tags. These tags may vary across different Datadog products, leading to potential inconsistencies in cost breakdowns. UAT is the default integration method, offering more usage data, data breakdown for multiple products, and accurate and consistent data tagging across all Finout features.
Datadog Integration
To set up the Datadog integration, you first create an API key and an application key in your Datadog account to establish secure access. Then, in the Finout console, enter these keys to connect Datadog with Finout. Once integrated, Finout syncs usage and cost data, offering detailed cost breakdowns, resource categorization, and actionable insights.
Prerequisites:
The UAT feature is available only for Enterprise accounts in Datadog; If your Datadog account doesn't support it, you will be limited to use the Custom Tags integration in Finout.
Ensure that your data is tagged using UAT at the parent organization level in Datadog. Note: If you are unsure how to verify these, please contact Finout support at support@finout.io for further assistance.
1. Create an API Key
a. Log into your Datadog account.
b. Hover over your Datadog user and select Organization Settings. The Organization Settings view appears.
c. Click API Keys. The New API Key pop-up appears.
d. Enter an API key name and click Create Key.
e. Copy the new API key, save it for later (step 3-f), and click Finish.
2. Create an Application Key
a. In your Datadog account, hover over your Datadog user and select Organization Settings.
b. Choose Application Keys.
c. Enter an API key name and click Create Key.
d. The default configuration is a non-scoped app key. To scope the API key, click Edit under the scope section. The Edit Key Scope appears.
e. Choose the relevant scopes according to this table and click Save.
f. Copy the new App key and save it for later (step 3-f).
3. Finout Console Integration
a. In Finout, navigate to Settings.
b. Click Cost Centers. You are brought to the cost centers page.
c. Click Add cost center. The Connect Accounts popup appears.
d. Find Datadog and click Connect Now. The Datadog integration popup window appears.
e. Select the Datadog account type: Enterprise or Non-Enterprise (Free/Pro). This selection determines the integration method: - Enterprise accounts uses UAT integration (default method). - Non-Enterprise accounts (Free/Pro) uses Custom Tags integration.
f. Add the API key and APP key (created in step 1 and 2) and click Next. The cost center has been created.
Limitations
Single Integration Type: Finout supports a single DataDog integration method per account.
Impact of Transitioning to UAT: Migrating from Custom Tags to UAT Integration might break certain application features that rely on the existing Datadog data. Affected features may include:
Saved Views
Widgets
Virtual Tags
Reallocations
Anomalies
Datadog Scans
Data Explorer Queries
No Support for Unique Sub-Organization Tags: Finout allows data break down based on the parent organization UATs. When the sub-organizations tags are different, their data will be allocated under "N/A" when grouping/filtering by the parent's UATs.
FAQs
How do Usage Attribution Tags (UATs) work in Finout? Usage Attribution Tags (UATs) in Datadog enables cost and usage breakdown by parent account's UATs, organizations (including sub-organizations), and regions. Finout retrieves tags based on the parent organization and categorizes costs accordingly.
What happens to my sub-organization tags?
If sub-organizations use the same tags as the parent organization, their data can also be broken down using these tags.
What if sub-organization Tags differ from the Parent organization? Finout allows presentation and data breakdown only based on the parent organization's tags. Data using different tags will appear as "N/A" when filtering/grouping by the parent’s tags. Breakdown by sub-organization tags is not yet supported.
Which Datadog API endpoint does Finout use to retrieve UAT data? Finout retrieves UAT cost and usage data from Datadog using the Hourly Usage Metering API, specifically the following endpoint: https://api.datadoghq.com/api/v1/usage/hourly-attribution.
What are the key differences between UAT and Custom Tag's integrations? Finout has two integration methods with Datadog: UAT (Default) and Custom Tags. They differ in how they retrieve and break down data. UAT Integration provides both cost and usage data with standardized tagging across multiple Datadog products. At the same time, Custom Tags Integration retrieves only cost data, relying on user-defined tags that may vary across products. the main differences between the integration types are: Current Datadog Integration (Custom Tags)
The existing integration relies on Custom Tags, which are not Datadog’s native cost allocation method. This approach comes with several limitations:
Missing Usage Data – Only cost data is fetched, with no support for usage data.
Limited Product Support – Tag-based cost breakdown is available only for Timeseries and Indexed Logs, while cost data is fetched for all Datadog products.
Estimated Cost Allocation – Since Custom Tags are not Datadog’s standard method, Finout applies manipulations that may lead to potential inaccuracies.
Inconsistent Tagging Across Products – Custom Tags vary between Datadog organizations, causing inconsistencies in cost breakdowns across different products.
UAT Integration (Usage Attribution Tags - Default)
The UAT integration ensures consistency in cost and usage data by leveraging Usage Attribution Tags (UATs) that remain uniform across all supported products. Additionally, it supports a broader range of Datadog products, making it a more robust and comprehensive solution for accurate and effective cost allocation. UATs provide a native and unified way to break down cost and usage data in Datadog. Key benefits and considerations include:
Datadog Usage: Supports the fetching, presentation, and breakdown by tags of Datadogs usage data.
More Datadog Products: Supports cost and usage breakdown by tags for more Datadog products (38 vs. 2 in the old integration).
Accurate Cost and Usage Allocation: UAT directly leverages Datadog's cost and usage allocation by tags, eliminating the need for Finout’s previous estimation methods, and leading to more accurate and reliable cost distribution.
Additional Breakdown Features: In addition to UATs, we are able to breakdown the data based on organizations and regions.
Detailed & Consistent Cost Breakdown: UAT provides standardized cost and usage insights across organizations, sub-organizations, and regions, unlike custom tags that vary by product.
How can I use UAT in Finout? See Usage Attribution Tags (UAT) for more details.
Who has UAT Integration in Finout? Currently, the default integration is Custom Tags. However, for new accounts created since April 2025, the default state is UAT-based integration. For accounts older than that, the default remains Custom Tags, and they should contact Finout support at support@finout.io to transition to UAT-based integration.
What should I do to transition to the UAT-based integration?
If you currently have Datadog integration that uses Custom Tags: No integration configuration changes are required once the UAT feature is enabled. The transition might affect the following features:
Saved Views
Widgets
Virtual Tags
Reallocations
Anomalies
Datadog Scans
Data Explorer Queries
If you never integrated Datadog with your account before: If you have never integrated Datadog with your account before, contact support at support@finout.io to enable the feature before proceeding with the integration configuration steps.
Is any action required if an account was previously configured with the Custom Tags integration and UAT integration has been activated? You do not need to take any action because the integration configuration remains the same.
Are there any limitations on historical data backfill?
Accounts previously using the Custom Tags integration: No limitations from Finout’s side, as the data has already been retained from Datadog’s Cost API. However, Datadog retains data for only 15 months, so older data cannot be backfilled.
Accounts initially set up with UAT as their first DD integration in Finout: Datadog’s Cost API allows fetching historical data only up to 2 months back, so the historical backfill will be limited accordingly.
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