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Docs > Cloud Cost Management > Setup > Azure

Overview

To use Azure Cloud Cost Management in Datadog, you must configure the Datadog Azure integration and create amortized and actual exports in Azure. Additionally, Datadog must have permissions to read the exports from the container.

Datadog provides cost visibility on a Subscription, Resource Group, and Billing Account Level. Microsoft Customer Agreements (MCA) can be set up at all three scopes. To determine your account type, see the Azure documentation.

Pay as you go (PAYG) accounts

Datadog Cloud Cost Management requires Actual Cost and Amortized Cost exports from Azure. PAYG (Microsoft Online Services Program) subscriptions typically provide only Usage details (usage only) exports, so they can't be set up for CCM. For the export types available to each Azure account type, see Microsoft's Cost Management exports documentation.

If your subscription is PAYG, consider one of the following options:

Migrate to a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) or Enterprise Agreement (EA), which support the required export types.
Contact Microsoft Azure support to confirm the export types available for your subscription.

For help with Datadog CCM setup or to discuss options, contact Datadog support.

Setup

You can set up using the API, Terraform, or directly in Datadog by following the instructions below.

Note: If you are using Datadog’s US3 site, you may have set up the Datadog Azure Native integration using the Datadog Resource method through the Azure Portal. To support Cloud Cost Management, you need to create an app registration.

Configure the Azure integration

Navigate to Setup & Configuration, add an Azure account and follow the steps to configure the Azure integration.

Select scope type

Use the dropdown to select the scope type for your account. CCM supports the billing account, subscription, and resource group scope type.

Select the resources to create

The Terraform configuration supports three setups depending on your existing Azure resources:

New setup: Select Create storage account and container to create a storage account, container, and cost exports.
Existing storage account and container: Unselect Create storage account and container and select Create cost exports to use existing storage but create new cost exports.
Existing storage account, container, and cost exports: Unselect both options to use existing storage and cost exports.

Configure the scope and export details

Enter the following details for your configuration:

Billing account or Subscription ID: Depending on the scope selected in Step 1, the relevant billing account ID or subscription ID.
Resource group name: The name of your existing resource group in the selected scope. A pre-existing resource group is required for the Terraform setup.
Location: The Azure location of your resource group. For example, East US 2.
Storage account and container name: Depending on the resources you have selected to create, the names of your new or pre-existing storage account and container.
Actual cost export name and path: The name and path of your actual cost export.
Amortized cost export name and path: The name and path of your amortized cost export.
- Note: The following prefix formats are not supported: empty, starting with / (such as / or /cost), or ending with / (such as cost/). Prefixes containing / in the middle are supported (such as cost/hourly).

Copy generated Azure resource Terraform HCL and apply changes

After the fields in Step 2 are complete, Step 3 enables and displays the generated Terraform HCL. Follow the instructions to set up your Terraform configuration files with this code. Resolve any issues that appear while running terraform plan or terraform apply before returning to CCM to configure cost exports.

Access Azure console to configure exports

Open the Azure console link to locate your cost exports. If needed, change the current scope to the correct one for your exports. For both actual and amortized exports, select them and click Edit to toggle on File Partitioning if not already enabled.

Save the File Partitioning changes and click Run Now. Return to CCM once both export runs have succeeded.

Copy generated Datadog HCL and apply changes

Follow the instructions in the Apply Datadog Terraform HCL step. Resolve any issues that appear while running terraform plan or terraform apply before returning to CCM to confirm account creation.

Generate cost exports

You need to generate exports for two data types: actual and amortized. Datadog recommends using the same storage container for both exports.

Navigate to [Cost Management | Configuration][5] under Azure portal’s Tools > Cost Management > Settings > Configuration and click Exports.
Select the export scope located next to the search filter.
Note: The scope must be billing account, subscription, or resource group.
After the scope is selected, click Schedule export.
Select the Cost and usage (actual + amortized) template
Click Edit on each export and confirm the following details:
- Frequency: Daily export of month-to-date costs
- Dataset version:
  - Supported versions: 2021-10-01, 2021-01-01, 2020-01-01
  - Unsupported versions: 2019-10-01
Enter an “Export prefix” for the new exports. For example, enter datadog to avoid conflicts with existing exports.
In the Destination tab, select the following details:
- Choose Azure blob storage as the storage type.
- Choose a storage account, container, and directory for the exports.
  - Note: Do not use special characters like . in these fields.
  - Note: Billing exports can be stored in any subscription. If you are creating exports for multiple subscriptions, Datadog recommends storing them in the same storage account. Export names must be unique.
- Choose CSV or Parquet as the format.
- Choose the compression type. For CSV: Gzip and None are supported. For Parquet: Snappy and None are supported.
- Ensure that File partitioning is checked.
- Ensure that Overwrite data is not checked.
  - Note: Datadog does not support the Overwrite data setting. If the setting was previously checked, make sure to clean the files in the directory or move them to another one.
On the Review + create tab, select Create.
Generate the first exports manually by clicking Run Now. Wait for successful completion before continuing.

Provide Datadog access to your exports

Grant Datadog read access to the storage account where your exports are saved.

Configure Cost Management Reader access

Note: You do not need to configure this access if your scope is Billing Account.

Navigate to your subscriptions and click your subscription’s name.
Select the Access Control (IAM) tab.
Click Add, then Add role assignment.
Choose Cost Management Reader, then click Next.
Assign these permissions to the app registration.

This helps ensure complete cost accuracy by allowing periodic cost calculations against Microsoft Cost Management.

Note: Data can take up to 48 to 72 hours after setup to stabilize in Datadog.

Note: If you have the proper permissions on the app registration but your network is blocking Datadog’s webhook IPs, you may encounter errors that appear to be permission-related.

To resolve this, add Datadog’s webhook IPs to your network allowlist by visiting the Webhooks section at https://ip-ranges..

Configure Cloud Cost in Datadog

Navigate to Setup & Configuration and follow the steps.

Getting historical data

Azure exports cost data starting from the month you created the export. Datadog automatically ingests up to 15 months of available historical cost data from these exports. You can manually backfill up to 12 months of Azure cost data using the Azure Cost Exports UI.

Complete the instructions in the Setup and Configure Cloud Cost in Datadog sections above.
Wait up to 24 hours for cost data to appear in Datadog to ensure the integration is working end-to-end before beginning the backfill process. Note: If you have already completed setup, and cost data is appearing in Datadog, you can proceed directly to the backfill steps below.
Manually export an actual and amortized report for each calendar month. For example, for June 2025:
1. Edit the Export
2. Change Export Type to One-time export
3. Set From to 06-01-2025 Note: This must be the first day of the month.
4. Set End to 06-30-2025 Note: This must be the last day of the month.
5. Save the export Note: This automatically runs the export
6. Wait for the export to finish running
Revert both the actual and amortized exports to their original state to resume daily exports:
1. Edit the Export
2. Change Export Type to Daily export of month-to-date costs
3. Save the export

Datadog automatically discovers and ingests this data, and it should appear in Datadog within 24 hours.

You can also create historical data in your storage account using the Microsoft API or by creating a support ticket with Microsoft. Ensure the file structure and partitioning follows the format of scheduled exports.

Cost types

You can visualize your ingested data using the following cost types:

Cost Type	Description
`azure.cost.amortized`	Cost based on applied discount rates plus the distribution of pre-payments across usage for the discount term (accrual basis).
`azure.cost.actual`	Cost shown as the amount charged at the time of usage (cash basis). Actual costs include private discounts as well as discounts from reserved instances and savings plans as separate charge types.
`azure.cost.discounted.ondemand`	Cost based on the list rate provided by Azure, after privately negotiated discounts. To get the true on-demand cost, divide this metric by (1 - <negotiated_discount>). For example if you have a 5% flat rate discount across all Azure products, taking this metric and dividing by .95 (1-.05) provides the true on-demand price.

Out-of-the-box tags

Datadog automatically enriches your Azure cost data with tags from multiple sources. For a comprehensive overview of how tags are applied to cost data, see Tags.

The following out-of-the-box tags are derived from your usage cost report and make it easier to discover and understand cost data:

Tag Name	Tag Description
`accountname`	The name of the account associated with the line item.
`accountownerid`	The ID of the owner associated with the line item.
`billingaccountid`	The ID of the billing account associated with the line item.
`billingaccountname`	The name of the billing account associated with the line item.
`billingcurrency`	The currency associated with the billing account.
`billingperiod`	The billing period of the charge.
`billingperiodenddate`	The end date of the billing period.
`billingperiodstartdate`	The start date of the billing period.
`billingprofileid`	The unique identifier of the Enterprise Agreement enrollment.
`billingprofilename`	The name of the Enterprise Agreement enrollment.
`chargetype`	The type of charge covering the line item: `Usage`, `Purchase`, or `Refund`.
`consumedservice`	The name of the service the line item is associated with.
`costcenter`	The cost center defined for the subscription for tracking costs.
`costinbillingcurrency`	The cost in the billing currency before credits or taxes.
`costinpricingcurrency`	The cost in the pricing currency before credits or taxes.
`currency`	The currency associated with the billing account.
`date`	The usage or purchase date of the charge.
`effectiveprice`	The blended unit price for the period. Blended prices average out any fluctuations in the unit price, like graduated tiering, which lowers the price as quantity increases.
`exchangeratedate`	The date the exchange rate was established.
`exchangeratepricingtobilling`	The exchange rate used to convert the cost in the pricing currency to the billing currency.
`frequency`	Indicates whether a charge is expected to repeat. Charges can either happen once (`OneTime`), repeat on a monthly or yearly basis (`Recurring`), or be based on usage (`Usage`)
`InvoiceId`	The unique document ID listed on the invoice PDF.
`invoicesectionid`	The ID of the MCA invoice section.
`invoicesectionname`	The name of the Enterprise Agreement (EA) department.
`isazurecrediteligible`	`true` if the charge is eligible to be paid for using Azure credits.
`location`	The data center location where the resource is running.
`metercategory`	The top level service that this usage belongs to (such as `Networking`).
`meterid`	The unique ID for the meter.
`metername`	The usage details of the line item (such as `L8s v2` or `General Purpose Data Stored`).
`meterregion`	The data center location for the services priced based on location (such as `West US 2`). Use `resourcelocation` to see location data without `N/A`.
`metersubcategory`	The name of the meter subclassification category (such as `General Purpose - Storage`). Use `metername` or `metercategory` to see top-level classification without `N/A`.
`offerid`	The name of the offer purchased.
`partnumber`	The ID used to get specific meter pricing.
`planname`	The marketplace plan name if purchased through marketplace.
`PreviousInvoiceId`	Reference to an original invoice if this line item is a refund.
`PricingCurrency`	The currency used when rating based on negotiated prices.
`pricingmodel`	The type of usage (such as `Reservation`).
`ProductId`	The identifier for a specific Azure product.
`productname`	The name of the Azure product at a granular level, such as VM or disk type and region.
`productorderid`	The ID for the product order. Use `productname` to see top level product information without `N/A`.
`productordername`	The name of the product order. Use `productname` to see top level product information without `N/A`.
`publishername`	The publisher for marketplace services.
`publishertype`	The type of publisher: `Microsoft` for Microsoft Customer Agreement accounts and `Azure` for Enterprise Agreement accounts.
`reservationid`	The ID for the purchased reservation instance. If you see `N/A` values, these are `OnDemand` resources, which can be checked using the `pricingmodel` tag.
`reservationname`	The name of the purchased reservation instance. If you see `N/A` values, these are `OnDemand` resources, which can be checked using the `pricingmodel` tag.
`resourcegroup`	The name of the resource group the resource is in. Not all charges come from resources deployed to resource groups.
`resourceid`	The ID of the Azure resource.
`resourcelocation`	The data center location where the resource is running (such as `westus2`).
`resourcename`	The name of the resource. Not all charges come from deployed resources.
`resourcetype`	The type of the Azure resource.
`servicefamily`	The service family that the service belongs to (such as `Compute`). The tag `consumedservice` has deeper insights on infrastructure types.
`ServicePeriodEndDate`	The termination date of the Azure service period.
`ServicePeriodStartDate`	The start date the Azure service period.
`subscriptionid`	The ID of the Azure subscription.
`subscriptionname`	The name of the Azure subscription.
`term`	Describes the duration or term of the Savings Plan in months (such as `12`).
`unitofmeasure`	The unit of measure for billing for the service. For example, compute services are billed per hour.

Cost and observability correlation

Viewing costs in context of observability data is important to understand how infrastructure changes impact costs, identify why costs change, and optimize infrastructure for both costs and performance. Datadog adds the name tag on cost data for top Azure products to simplify correlating observability and cost metrics.

For example, to view cost and utilization for each Azure VM, you can make a table with azure.cost.amortized and azure.vm.network_in_total (or any other VM metric) and group by name. Or, to see Storage usage and costs side by side, you can filter into metercategory:Storage and graph azure.storage.transactions and azure.cost.amortized grouped by name.

URL: https://docs.datadoghq.com/cloud_cost_management/setup/azure/

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