diff --git a/Taskfile.yml b/Taskfile.yml
index 48b45eb..6387fdb 100644
--- a/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/Taskfile.yml
@@ -107,7 +107,15 @@ tasks:
       - echo "  install-cert-manager    Deploy cert-manager + CSI driver"
       - echo "  install-kyverno         Deploy Kyverno policy engine"
       - echo "  install-envoy-gateway-operator  Deploy Envoy Gateway"
-      - echo "  install-observability   [OPTIONAL] Deploy telemetry stack"
+      - echo ""
+      - echo "📊 Observability (composable):"
+      - echo "  install-observability       [OPTIONAL] Deploy full telemetry stack"
+      - echo "  install-prometheus-crds     Prometheus Operator CRDs"
+      - echo "  install-victoria-metrics    Victoria Metrics (vmagent + vmsingle)"
+      - echo "  install-otel-collector      OpenTelemetry Operator + Collector"
+      - echo "  install-grafana             Grafana Operator + instance + datasources"
+      - echo "  install-loki                Loki for log aggregation"
+      - echo "  install-tempo               Tempo for distributed tracing"
       - echo ""
       - echo "🔨 CI/Development:"
       - echo "  kind-load-image         Load images into KIND"
@@ -407,26 +415,16 @@ tasks:
       - echo "   To find the actual NodePort assignments, run:"
       - echo "   kubectl get svc -n envoy-gateway-system -l app.kubernetes.io/name=envoy"
 
-  install-observability:
-    desc: "[OPTIONAL] Deploy complete observability stack (Victoria Metrics, Loki, Tempo, Grafana, OTel)"
+  install-prometheus-crds:
+    desc: "Deploy Prometheus Operator CRDs"
     silent: true
     cmds:
       - task: ensure-repo
-      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Observability Stack …"
-      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability | kubectl apply -f -
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Grafana Operator HelmRelease …"
-      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/grafana-operator --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Victoria Metrics Stack HelmRelease …"
-      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/vm --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Loki HelmRelease …"
-      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/loki --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Tempo HelmRelease …"
-      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/tempo --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for OpenTelemetry Operator HelmRelease …"
-      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/opentelemetry-operator --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Prometheus Operator CRDs …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/prometheus-crds | kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -f -
       - |
         set -euo pipefail
-        echo "⏳ Waiting for Prometheus CRDs to be Established…"
+        echo "⏳ Waiting for Prometheus CRDs to be Established …"
         for crd in \
           servicemonitors.monitoring.coreos.com \
           podmonitors.monitoring.coreos.com \
@@ -436,22 +434,106 @@ tasks:
           alertmanagers.monitoring.coreos.com \
           thanosrulers.monitoring.coreos.com
         do
-          echo "$crd"
+          echo "  $crd"
           kubectl wait --for=condition=Established "crd/${crd}" --timeout=120s || true
         done
-      - echo "⏳ Waiting for vmagent & vmsingle to be Ready (best-effort)…"
-      - kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deploy -l app.kubernetes.io/name=vmagent -n telemetry-system --timeout=120s || true
-      - kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deploy -l app.kubernetes.io/name=vmsingle -n telemetry-system --timeout=120s || true
+      - echo "✅ Prometheus Operator CRDs are ready"
+
+  install-victoria-metrics:
+    desc: "Deploy Victoria Metrics (vmagent + vmsingle)"
+    silent: true
+    deps: [install-prometheus-crds]
+    cmds:
+      - task: ensure-repo
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Victoria Metrics …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/victoria-metrics | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Victoria Metrics Stack HelmRelease …"
+      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/vm --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for vmagent & vmsingle to be Ready …"
+      - kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deploy -l app.kubernetes.io/name=vmagent -n victoria-metrics-system --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}} || true
+      - kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deploy -l app.kubernetes.io/name=vmsingle -n victoria-metrics-system --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}} || true
+      - echo "✅ Victoria Metrics is ready"
+
+  install-otel-collector:
+    desc: "Deploy OpenTelemetry Operator + Collector"
+    silent: true
+    cmds:
+      - task: ensure-repo
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling OpenTelemetry Operator …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/otel-collector | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for OpenTelemetry Operator HelmRelease …"
+      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/opentelemetry-operator --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
       - echo "⏳ Waiting for OpenTelemetryCollector CRD to be Established …"
       - kubectl wait --for=condition=Established crd/opentelemetrycollectors.opentelemetry.io --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
-      - echo "➡️  Applying OpenTelemetryCollector CR …"
-      - kubectl apply -f {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml
+      - |
+        echo "⏳ Waiting for OTel webhook to be ready …"
+        sleep 10
+      - echo "➡️  Applying OpenTelemetryCollector CR (with retry for webhook readiness) …"
+      - |
+        set -euo pipefail
+        for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
+          if kubectl apply -f {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "  CR applied successfully"
+            break
+          fi
+          echo "  Attempt $i failed, retrying in 10s …"
+          sleep 10
+        done
       - echo "⏳ Waiting for OTel Collector DaemonSet …"
-      - kubectl -n telemetry-system rollout status daemonset/otel-collector-collector --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - kubectl -n otel-collector-system rollout status daemonset/otel-collector-collector --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - echo "✅ OpenTelemetry Collector is ready"
+
+  install-grafana:
+    desc: "Deploy Grafana Operator + instance + datasources"
+    silent: true
+    deps: [install-victoria-metrics]
+    cmds:
+      - task: ensure-repo
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Grafana Operator …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/grafana | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Grafana Operator HelmRelease …"
+      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/grafana-operator --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
       - echo "➡️  Applying Grafana Instance (after Operator CRDs are ready) …"
-      - kubectl apply -f {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/grafana-instance.yaml
+      - kubectl apply -f {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/grafana/grafana-instance.yaml
       - echo "➡️  Applying Grafana Datasources …"
-      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/datasources | kubectl apply -f -
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/grafana/datasources | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "✅ Grafana is ready"
+      - echo ""
+      - 'echo "📊 Access Grafana at: http://localhost:30000"'
+      - 'echo "   Username: admin"'
+      - 'echo "   Password: datum123"'
+
+  install-loki:
+    desc: "Deploy Loki for log aggregation"
+    silent: true
+    cmds:
+      - task: ensure-repo
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Loki …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/loki | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Loki HelmRelease …"
+      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/loki --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - echo "✅ Loki is ready"
+
+  install-tempo:
+    desc: "Deploy Tempo for distributed tracing"
+    silent: true
+    cmds:
+      - task: ensure-repo
+      - echo "➡️  Reconciling Tempo …"
+      - kustomize build {{.REPO_DIR}}/components/observability/tempo | kubectl apply -f -
+      - echo "⏳ Waiting for Tempo HelmRelease …"
+      - kubectl -n flux-system wait helmrelease/tempo --for=condition=Ready --timeout={{.WAIT_TIMEOUT}}
+      - echo "✅ Tempo is ready"
+
+  install-observability:
+    desc: "[OPTIONAL] Deploy complete observability stack (Victoria Metrics, Loki, Tempo, Grafana, OTel)"
+    silent: true
+    cmds:
+      - task: install-victoria-metrics
+      - task: install-otel-collector
+      - task: install-loki
+      - task: install-tempo
+      - task: install-grafana
       - echo "✅ Observability stack is ready"
       - echo ""
       - 'echo "📊 Access Grafana at: http://localhost:30000"'
diff --git a/components/observability/README.md b/components/observability/README.md
index a683d3d..5a285c4 100644
--- a/components/observability/README.md
+++ b/components/observability/README.md
@@ -4,20 +4,25 @@ Optional observability stack for test infrastructure, providing metrics, logs, a
 
 ## Overview
 
-This component is an **optional add-on** deployed after core infrastructure. It provides comprehensive telemetry capabilities using Grafana, Victoria Metrics, Loki, and Tempo.
+This component is an **optional add-on** deployed after core infrastructure. It provides comprehensive telemetry capabilities using Grafana, Victoria Metrics, Loki, Tempo, and the OpenTelemetry Collector.
 
-## Components
+The stack is split into composable subcomponents — each deploys into its own namespace so it can be installed, upgraded, or removed independently (`kubectl delete ns <component>-system` cleanly uninstalls).
 
-- **Grafana**: Visualization and dashboards
-- **Victoria Metrics**: Metrics collection and storage
-- **Loki**: Log aggregation and storage
-- **Tempo**: Distributed tracing storage
-- **Promtail**: Log collection agent
+## Subcomponents
+
+| Component         | Namespace                 | Purpose                               |
+| ----------------- | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
+| `prometheus-crds` | (cluster-scoped)          | Prometheus Operator CRDs              |
+| `victoria-metrics`| `victoria-metrics-system` | Metrics collection and storage        |
+| `otel-collector`  | `otel-collector-system`   | OpenTelemetry DaemonSet collector     |
+| `loki`            | `loki-system`             | Log aggregation and storage           |
+| `tempo`           | `tempo-system`            | Distributed tracing storage           |
+| `grafana`         | `grafana-system`          | Visualization, dashboards, datasources|
 
 ## Access
 
 - **Grafana UI**: Available at NodePort 30000 (admin/datum123)
-- **Default Datasources**: Victoria Metrics (metrics), Loki (logs), Tempo (traces)
+- **Default Datasources**: Victoria Metrics (metrics), Loki (logs), Tempo (traces), Alertmanager
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
@@ -25,18 +30,35 @@ Core test infrastructure must be running before deploying observability componen
 
 ## Deployment
 
-Deploy using the `install-observability` task target:
+Deploy the whole stack:
 
 ```bash
 task install-observability
 ```
 
-This deploys all components and configures datasources automatically.
+Or install components individually:
+
+```bash
+task install-prometheus-crds
+task install-victoria-metrics
+task install-otel-collector
+task install-loki
+task install-tempo
+task install-grafana
+```
 
 ## Removal
 
-To remove the observability stack:
+To remove an individual component:
+
+```bash
+kubectl delete namespace <component>-system
+```
+
+To remove the whole stack:
 
 ```bash
-kubectl delete namespace observability
+for ns in grafana-system tempo-system loki-system otel-collector-system victoria-metrics-system; do
+  kubectl delete namespace "$ns"
+done
 ```
diff --git a/components/observability/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml
similarity index 73%
rename from components/observability/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml
index fae8cf3..6c2ac3e 100644
--- a/components/observability/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/alertmanager-datasource.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: grafana.integreatly.org/v1beta1
 kind: GrafanaDatasource
 metadata:
   name: alertmanager
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: grafana-system
 spec:
   instanceSelector:
     matchLabels:
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ spec:
     name: Alertmanager
     type: alertmanager
     access: proxy
-    url: http://vmalertmanager-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:9093
+    url: http://vmalertmanager-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:9093
     isDefault: true
     editable: true
     jsonData:
diff --git a/components/observability/datasources/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/kustomization.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from components/observability/datasources/kustomization.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/datasources/kustomization.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml
similarity index 83%
rename from components/observability/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml
index e1e5f21..803dd2e 100644
--- a/components/observability/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/loki-datasource.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: grafana.integreatly.org/v1beta1
 kind: GrafanaDatasource
 metadata:
   name: loki-datasource
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: grafana-system
   labels:
     dashboards: "grafana"
 spec:
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ spec:
     name: Loki
     type: loki
     access: proxy
-    url: http://telemetry-system-loki.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:3100
+    url: http://loki-system-loki.loki-system.svc.cluster.local:3100
     isDefault: false
     editable: true
     jsonData:
diff --git a/components/observability/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml
similarity index 91%
rename from components/observability/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml
index db66274..bc7ecb3 100644
--- a/components/observability/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/tempo-datasource.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: grafana.integreatly.org/v1beta1
 kind: GrafanaDatasource
 metadata:
   name: tempo-datasource
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: grafana-system
   labels:
     dashboards: "grafana"
 spec:
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ spec:
     name: Tempo
     type: tempo
     access: proxy
-    url: http://telemetry-system-tempo.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:3100
+    url: http://tempo-system-tempo.tempo-system.svc.cluster.local:3100
     uid: tempo-datasource
     isDefault: false
     editable: true
diff --git a/components/observability/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml
similarity index 76%
rename from components/observability/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml
index 7dbb59d..61777c0 100644
--- a/components/observability/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/datasources/vm-datasource.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: grafana.integreatly.org/v1beta1
 kind: GrafanaDatasource
 metadata:
   name: victoria-metrics-datasource
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: grafana-system
   labels:
     dashboards: "grafana"
 spec:
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ spec:
     name: VictoriaMetrics
     type: prometheus
     access: proxy
-    url: http://vmsingle-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:8428
+    url: http://vmsingle-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:8428
     uid: victoria-metrics-datasource
     isDefault: true
     editable: true
diff --git a/components/observability/grafana-instance.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/grafana-instance.yaml
similarity index 97%
rename from components/observability/grafana-instance.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/grafana-instance.yaml
index 852559f..32e1ec5 100644
--- a/components/observability/grafana-instance.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/grafana-instance.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: grafana.integreatly.org/v1beta1
 kind: Grafana
 metadata:
   name: grafana
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: grafana-system
   labels:
     dashboards: "grafana"
 spec:
diff --git a/components/observability/grafana-operator-hr.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/grafana-operator-hr.yaml
similarity index 94%
rename from components/observability/grafana-operator-hr.yaml
rename to components/observability/grafana/grafana-operator-hr.yaml
index 40bfd16..135a3f1 100644
--- a/components/observability/grafana-operator-hr.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/grafana-operator-hr.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   interval: 15m
   timeout: 5m
-  targetNamespace: telemetry-system
+  targetNamespace: grafana-system
   chart:
     spec:
       chart: grafana-operator
diff --git a/components/observability/grafana/helm-repositories.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/helm-repositories.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83fa999
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/helm-repositories.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: HelmRepository
+metadata:
+  name: grafana
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 12h
+  url: https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts/
diff --git a/components/observability/grafana/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57d0c20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+  - helm-repositories.yaml
+  - grafana-operator-hr.yaml
+  - grafana-instance.yaml
+  - datasources
diff --git a/components/observability/grafana/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/grafana/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2b112f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/grafana/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: grafana-system
+  labels:
+    name: grafana-system
+    dashboards: "grafana"
diff --git a/components/observability/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/kustomization.yaml
index 945898a..eb98a82 100644
--- a/components/observability/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,15 +1,24 @@
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: Kustomization
 resources:
-  - namespace.yaml
-  - helm-repositories.yaml
-  - grafana-operator-hr.yaml
-  - victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
-  - loki-hr.yaml
-  - tempo-hr.yaml
-  - otel-collector/helm-repository.yaml
-  - otel-collector/helm-release-operator.yaml
-  - otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml
-  # Prometheus Operator CRDs
-  - https://github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/releases/download/v0.81.0/stripped-down-crds.yaml
-
+  - prometheus-crds
+  - victoria-metrics
+  - otel-collector
+  - loki
+  - tempo
+  - grafana
+# When the full observability stack is installed together, grafana-operator is
+# present, so flip the VM chart's grafana-dashboard generation back on. The
+# per-component (composable) VM install leaves this at false so it does not
+# depend on the Grafana CRDs.
+patches:
+  - target:
+      group: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io
+      version: v2
+      kind: HelmRelease
+      name: vm
+      namespace: flux-system
+    patch: |
+      - op: replace
+        path: /spec/values/defaultDashboards/grafanaOperator/enabled
+        value: true
diff --git a/components/observability/loki/helm-repositories.yaml b/components/observability/loki/helm-repositories.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40716b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/loki/helm-repositories.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: HelmRepository
+metadata:
+  name: loki-charts
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 12h
+  url: https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts/
diff --git a/components/observability/loki/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/loki/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0854db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/loki/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+  - helm-repositories.yaml
+  - loki-hr.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/loki-hr.yaml b/components/observability/loki/loki-hr.yaml
similarity index 96%
rename from components/observability/loki-hr.yaml
rename to components/observability/loki/loki-hr.yaml
index 6c78137..f31800b 100644
--- a/components/observability/loki-hr.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/loki/loki-hr.yaml
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   interval: 15m
   timeout: 10m
-  targetNamespace: telemetry-system
+  targetNamespace: loki-system
   chart:
     spec:
       chart: loki
       version: "6.16.0"
       sourceRef:
         kind: HelmRepository
-        name: grafana
+        name: loki-charts
         namespace: flux-system
   install:
     createNamespace: false
diff --git a/components/observability/loki/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/loki/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de84677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/loki/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: loki-system
+  labels:
+    name: loki-system
diff --git a/components/observability/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/namespace.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 17def55..0000000
--- a/components/observability/namespace.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Namespace
-metadata:
-  name: telemetry-system
-  labels:
-    name: telemetry-system
-    dashboards: "grafana"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/components/observability/otel-collector/helm-release-operator.yaml b/components/observability/otel-collector/helm-release-operator.yaml
index 428169b..e134346 100644
--- a/components/observability/otel-collector/helm-release-operator.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/otel-collector/helm-release-operator.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ metadata:
   namespace: flux-system
 spec:
   interval: 5m
-  targetNamespace: telemetry-system
+  targetNamespace: otel-collector-system
   chart:
     spec:
       chart: opentelemetry-operator
diff --git a/components/observability/otel-collector/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/otel-collector/kustomization.yaml
index 133b3ad..0ef3709 100644
--- a/components/observability/otel-collector/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/otel-collector/kustomization.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
 kind: Kustomization
 resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
   - helm-repository.yaml
   - helm-release-operator.yaml
   - opentelemetry-collector.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/otel-collector/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/otel-collector/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ded824
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/otel-collector/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: otel-collector-system
+  labels:
+    name: otel-collector-system
diff --git a/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml b/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml
index cc24973..00044c5 100644
--- a/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/otel-collector/opentelemetry-collector.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ apiVersion: opentelemetry.io/v1beta1
 kind: OpenTelemetryCollector
 metadata:
   name: otel-collector
-  namespace: telemetry-system
+  namespace: otel-collector-system
 spec:
   managementState: managed
   mode: daemonset
@@ -117,15 +117,15 @@ spec:
 
     exporters:
       otlphttp/tempo:
-        endpoint: http://telemetry-system-tempo.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:4318
+        endpoint: http://tempo-system-tempo.tempo-system.svc.cluster.local:4318
         tls:
           insecure: true
       prometheusremotewrite:
-        endpoint: http://vmsingle-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:8428/api/v1/write
+        endpoint: http://vmsingle-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:8428/api/v1/write
         tls:
           insecure: true
       otlphttp/loki:
-        endpoint: http://telemetry-system-loki.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:3100/otlp
+        endpoint: http://loki-system-loki.loki-system.svc.cluster.local:3100/otlp
         tls:
           insecure: true
 
diff --git a/components/observability/prometheus-crds/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/prometheus-crds/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d644887
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/prometheus-crds/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  # Prometheus Operator CRDs (cluster-scoped, no namespace required)
+  - https://github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/releases/download/v0.81.0/stripped-down-crds.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/tempo/helm-repositories.yaml b/components/observability/tempo/helm-repositories.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9180816
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/tempo/helm-repositories.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: HelmRepository
+metadata:
+  name: tempo-charts
+  namespace: flux-system
+spec:
+  interval: 12h
+  url: https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts/
diff --git a/components/observability/tempo/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/tempo/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15865a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/tempo/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+  - helm-repositories.yaml
+  - tempo-hr.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/tempo/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/tempo/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43194c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/tempo/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: tempo-system
+  labels:
+    name: tempo-system
diff --git a/components/observability/tempo-hr.yaml b/components/observability/tempo/tempo-hr.yaml
similarity index 97%
rename from components/observability/tempo-hr.yaml
rename to components/observability/tempo/tempo-hr.yaml
index ae04e8b..d86ae2d 100644
--- a/components/observability/tempo-hr.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/tempo/tempo-hr.yaml
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   interval: 15m
   timeout: 10m
-  targetNamespace: telemetry-system
+  targetNamespace: tempo-system
   chart:
     spec:
       chart: tempo
       version: "1.10.3"
       sourceRef:
         kind: HelmRepository
-        name: grafana
+        name: tempo-charts
         namespace: flux-system
   install:
     createNamespace: false
diff --git a/components/observability/helm-repositories.yaml b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/helm-repositories.yaml
similarity index 50%
rename from components/observability/helm-repositories.yaml
rename to components/observability/victoria-metrics/helm-repositories.yaml
index 2678f3a..2fe274a 100644
--- a/components/observability/helm-repositories.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/helm-repositories.yaml
@@ -7,12 +7,3 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   interval: 12h
   url: https://victoriametrics.github.io/helm-charts/
----
-apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
-kind: HelmRepository
-metadata:
-  name: grafana
-  namespace: flux-system
-spec:
-  interval: 12h
-  url: https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts/
diff --git a/components/observability/victoria-metrics/kustomization.yaml b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5159172
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  - namespace.yaml
+  - helm-repositories.yaml
+  - victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
diff --git a/components/observability/victoria-metrics/namespace.yaml b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84aee69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: victoria-metrics-system
+  labels:
+    name: victoria-metrics-system
diff --git a/components/observability/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
similarity index 82%
rename from components/observability/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
rename to components/observability/victoria-metrics/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
index fa8cd66..12f69cd 100644
--- a/components/observability/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
+++ b/components/observability/victoria-metrics/victoria-metrics-hr.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   interval: 15m
   timeout: 10m
-  targetNamespace: telemetry-system
+  targetNamespace: victoria-metrics-system
   chart:
     spec:
       chart: victoria-metrics-k8s-stack
@@ -25,14 +25,17 @@ spec:
   values:
     nameOverride: "vm"
     # Enable Grafana Operator integration
+    # Default is false so the VM chart can install standalone without the
+    # grafana-operator CRDs. The root observability kustomization patches this
+    # back to true when the full stack is installed together.
     defaultDashboards:
       grafanaOperator:
-        enabled: true
+        enabled: false
         spec:
           instanceSelector:
             matchLabels:
               dashboards: "grafana"
-          allowCrossNamespaceImport: false
+          allowCrossNamespaceImport: true
 
     # Victoria Metrics Single configuration
     vmsingle:
@@ -84,13 +87,13 @@ spec:
         evaluationInterval: "15s"
         # Configure datasource for querying metrics
         datasource:
-          url: "http://vmsingle-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:8428"
+          url: "http://vmsingle-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:8428"
         # Configure notifier to use Alertmanager
         notifier:
-          url: "http://vmalertmanager-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:9093"
+          url: "http://vmalertmanager-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:9093"
         # Enable remote write for storing alert state
         remoteWrite:
-          url: "http://vmsingle-telemetry-system-vm.telemetry-system.svc.cluster.local:8428/api/v1/write"
+          url: "http://vmsingle-victoria-metrics-system-vm.victoria-metrics-system.svc.cluster.local:8428/api/v1/write"
 
     # Alertmanager - enabled for test environment
     alertmanager: