---
title: "Meet your data where it is | Grafana Labs"
description: "You can keep your data where it is or send it to Grafana Cloud."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## Data and tools everywhere

- Metrics, logs, traces, and profiles live in different vendors, regions, and stacks
- Investigations require switching tools mid-incident
- Each new source adds another query language and tool to learn
- Some data can’t leave your network because of security, compliance, or data-residency rules

## Solutions

You can send data to Grafana Cloud or connect to it where it lives. Many teams use both. 

- **Send data to Cloud.** Send your telemetry to managed backends. Grafana can perform storage and scaling for you. Your options include:
  
  - [Grafana Alloy](/docs/grafana-cloud/send-data/alloy/), a vendor-neutral OpenTelemetry Collector distribution
  - The OpenTelemetry-native [OTLP endpoint](/docs/grafana-cloud/send-data/otlp/) for OTel SDKs and collectors
  - Existing agents and formats, including [Prometheus, Graphite, InfluxDB, and Datadog](/docs/grafana-cloud/send-data/metrics/) for metrics and [Jaeger and Zipkin](/docs/grafana-cloud/send-data/traces/) for traces
  - [Integrations](/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-infrastructure/integrations/) that set up collection plus preconfigured dashboards and alerts for common technologies, including operating systems, databases, web servers, and cloud services, in minutes
- **Connect to data where it lives.** Keep your data in its existing location.
  
  - Query existing systems through [data source plugins](/docs/grafana-cloud/connect-externally-hosted/)
  - Reach sources that can’t leave your network with [Private Data Source Connect](/docs/grafana-cloud/connect-externally-hosted/private-data-source-connect/), which keeps them off the public internet

## Real results from real teams

- [**SYSO**](/success/syso/)
  
  > “We use Grafana to get that consistent view across all the different types of assets that we manage, so the operations team can make sure we are maximizing the revenue of those assets for our customers.”
- [**MiQ**](/success/miq/)
  
  > “What used to take 45 minutes to an hour now takes about 10 to 15 minutes.”