The use of custom resource definitions (CRDs) in Kubernetes production environments enables users to tailor resources to their specific applications or infrastructure needs, automate processes through operators, simplify the management of complex applications, and integrate with non-native applications such as Kafka and Elasticsearch. Datadog encourages the use of CRDs via the Datadog Operator, which provides benefits including ease of use, clarity of ownership, and more seamless workflows. Monitoring CRDs for resource management, availability, autoscaling configuration, and state validation is crucial to ensure stability and performance. The Datadog Operator includes CRDs that help manage Datadog resources such as dashboards, monitors, metrics, SLOs, and more. CRDs can impact the stability and performance of the entire Kubernetes cluster and any applications using them, so it's essential to monitor them with tools like Datadog Container Monitoring.