A telemetry service can receive telemetry collection requirements that are expressed as an “intent” that defines how telemetry is to be collected. A telemetry intent compiler can receive the telemetry intent and translate the high level intent into abstract telemetry configuration parameters that provide a generic description of desired telemetry data. The telemetry service can determine, from the telemetry intent, a set of devices from which to collect telemetry data. For each device, the telemetry service can determine capabilities of the device with respect to telemetry data collection. The capabilities may include a telemetry protocol supported by the device. The telemetry service can create a protocol specific device configuration based on the abstract telemetry configuration parameters and the telemetry protocol supported by the device. Devices in a network system that support a particular telemetry protocol can be allocated to instances of a telemetry collector that supports the telemetry protocol.