Datadog launches enhanced log tools for cost & compliance needs

Datadog has introduced new features to its log management suite aimed at helping organisations optimise logging costs and comply with data retention, auditability, and data residency requirements in regulated sectors.

Logs are essential for activities such as threat detection, incident response, and maintaining audit trails.

However, many organisations struggle with inflexible solutions, high expenses, and limitations related to data retention.

Industries like financial services, healthcare, and insurance often need to navigate strict regulations that require the maintenance and oversight of sensitive operational data, including logs.

Additionally, companies operating under local data residency rules or meeting internal security policies are frequently required to keep their data—logs included—within highly controlled environments such as on-premises setups or regional cloud infrastructure.

Existing log management solutions have posed challenges for such organisations, mainly through high operating costs, increased operational workload, and fragmented data handling processes. These issues can make compliance and efficient log data management more difficult.

Previously, Datadog introduced Flex Logs, a product that separates the cost of storing logs from the expense of querying them.

This approach allows for both short-term and long-term retention at a monthly rate which the company states does not compromise on data visibility. This unified log retention solution assists organisations by linking logs, metrics, and traces across the board.

Enhancements for compliance

The company is now expanding these capabilities with additional features building upon Flex Logs.

According to Datadog, these enhancements allow organisations to maintain visibility, monitor costs, and operate efficiently, all while meeting modern security information and event management (SIEM) and compliance workflows.

The newly announced Archive Search enables users to query logs stored in customer-managed cold storage without the need to re-index them. Search functionality remains consistent for users regardless of the log's age, and there is no requirement to learn new tools or undergo extra training.

This feature is designed to maintain workflow continuity and user experience across data age brackets.

Flex Frozen introduces a new storage tier, which extends log retention to more than seven years.

The company says this is targeted at organisations with heavy audit requirements and strict compliance needs. It does so by keeping logs within Datadog's environment, thus reducing the need for management of external archives.

This approach, the company notes, aims to lower overhead, simplify compliance reporting and analytics processes, and enhance data accessibility for users.

CloudPrem allows enterprises to use Datadog's log indexing and searching capabilities within their own infrastructure environments. This development responds to client requirements for local data storage stemming from regional regulations or internal mandates.

Organisations can maintain log data locally—whether on-premises or within a region-specific cloud platform—while continuing to use the existing Datadog interface and workflows.

"As compliance standards grow more complex and global data regulations tighten, organisations face mounting pressure to retain log data longer, search it faster and keep it where it belongs," said Michael Whetten, VP of Product at Datadog. "With today's launches, Datadog makes it easier to manage logs, control their costs and stay compliant without sacrificing performance, accessibility or the user experience."

These new features aim to support companies facing increasingly stringent requirements around security, costs, and data governance, particularly those in regulated industries or operating under unique data residency laws.

Alongside the log management updates, Datadog also introduced enhancements in areas such as AI observability, applied AI, and AI security, and released its Internal Developer Portal.