Why did I go with DataDog

Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored. It is a testimony from a Technology leader on how effective decision-making can enhance the reliability and resiliency of software applications, platforms, and infrastructure.

In late 2022, I faced a crucial technology decision. My lean DevOps team was struggling with our on-premises ELK stack, our primary observability platform. Despite utilizing AWS EBS, we were constantly battling endless log storage issues. The platform, supporting multiple large-scale applications, served over 160,000 clients (as in companies). While the technology itself was sound and offered a cost-effective solution, storage issues aside, it demanded extensive hours from my already stretched team.

The core problem wasn’t the technology but the unsustainable workload on my team. Leading a tech division that provides financial services, I understand that in our industry, time truly is money. Balancing cost, efficiency, and team well-being became my top priority as we navigated this challenge. A change was inevitable, not just so I could sleep better at night, but more importantly, so my DevOps team could wake up without the constant dread of another firefight. The relentless struggle with our ELK stack had taken its toll, even adding a few extra unplanned gray hair to my head. We needed a solution that would allow us to rest easy.

Based on this wild ride, my new gray hairs, and the dark circles under my DevOps team's eyes, I decided to embark on a mission to make things better in early 2023. After much deliberation, countless meetings, and exploring numerous observability platforms, my Chief of Engineering and I decided to run a POC with Datadog. To my amusement, I was thrilled to learn that, despite being an all-American company, Datadog offered us a free POC. Have Americans ever given anything for free? Maybe it was because our account manager was a Danish guy!

Well, we scrambled fast and appointed a Datadog Ambassador to dive headfirst into this new observability platform. The mission? Poke it, press it, punch it, and whip up an executive report to convince me if this thing could fly or crash. After two months of proof of concept (POC), just like any other Swedish company we needed more time. Datadog wasn’t free like our on-premises ELK Stack, and its cost was just shy of what my left kidney might fetch in a third-world country.

We turned to our Danish account manager for two more months to make a decision. To our delight, he granted us an extra two months of POC. This Danish guy was as American as a croissant, but hey, who was I to complain? I just needed more time to assess and a partner in crime to share the blame—my "Chief of Engineering" (just kidding).

After four long months of POC and facing internal criticism, I made the call to invest in Datadog as our main observability platform. This decision wasn't my only good one in my professional career, but it's definitely up there.

It was the day I signed the contract that marked a turning point, and today, as I write this article completely on my own (still not sponsored), I can confidently say that observability has never been an issue again. Storage problems have vanished. Of course, we optimized things on our end, but that's standard practice. The level of detail this platform has provided since its implementation has been invaluable to our technical and support staff. We continuously add new dashboards, observation parameters, and services, all at a minimal cost, gaining insights that enable us to make informed decisions every day. Recently, I added an AWS cost dashboard that offers detailed insights into all my accounts, environments, and components, providing the clarity I've always needed.

We are now exploring Real User Monitoring (RUM) to offer even deeper insights to our product and design teams. This will enable them to understand how our services are being used in real-time, allowing them to make more informed decisions and focus their efforts on developing features that our customers will truly appreciate.

Does it cost: YES,

Was it worth it: YES

Did i sell my Kidney: NO

Is my devOps happy: 200%

The End