How Datadog's IT Team Automated Account Inactivity and SaaS Spend Management

The blog post discusses how Datadog's IT Team automated monitoring of third-party accounts using a tool called Clarity, and then expanded it to focus on optimizing software licensing efficiency. This resulted in the creation of Clarity License Manager (CLM), which monitors account activity across multiple SaaS applications, interacts with employees through a Slackbot, and includes automated account deactivation and reactivation. The CLM has already deactivated hundreds of inactive accounts, saving Datadog money. The tool is built using microservices architecture for better scalability and flexibility. It also allows for application-specific configuration and interfaces to customize its interaction with SaaS applications based on organizational needs. Datadog's metrics and dashboards are used to gain visibility into the tooling. Future plans include improving user interaction, incorporating more robust user data, and implementing asynchronous per-application runs.