diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/Chart.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/Chart.yaml
similarity index 93%
rename from deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/Chart.yaml
rename to deploy/cloud/helm/crds/Chart.yaml
index 31245f07b9..0025609dfb 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/Chart.yaml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 apiVersion: v2
 name: dynamo-crds
-description: A Helm chart for CRDs of dynamo operator
+description: A Helm chart for dynamo CRDs
 type: application
 version: 0.1.6
 dependencies: []
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml
similarity index 99%
rename from deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml
rename to deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml
index b0360c0bf0..3c8d5c5738 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponentdeployments.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ kind: CustomResourceDefinition
 metadata:
   annotations:
     controller-gen.kubebuilder.io/version: v0.16.4
+    # never delete this resource with helm delete
+    helm.sh/resource-policy: keep
   name: dynamocomponentdeployments.nvidia.com
 spec:
   group: nvidia.com
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml
similarity index 99%
rename from deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml
rename to deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml
index a39a1b05b3..6455afdd39 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamocomponents.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ kind: CustomResourceDefinition
 metadata:
   annotations:
     controller-gen.kubebuilder.io/version: v0.16.4
+    # never delete this resource with helm delete
+    helm.sh/resource-policy: keep
   name: dynamocomponents.nvidia.com
 spec:
   group: nvidia.com
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml
similarity index 99%
rename from deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml
rename to deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml
index d5a67d2493..6520e9deeb 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/charts/dynamo-crds/crds/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/crds/templates/nvidia.com_dynamographdeployments.yaml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ kind: CustomResourceDefinition
 metadata:
   annotations:
     controller-gen.kubebuilder.io/version: v0.16.4
+    # never delete this resource with helm delete
+    helm.sh/resource-policy: keep
   name: dynamographdeployments.nvidia.com
 spec:
   group: nvidia.com
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/deploy.sh b/deploy/cloud/helm/deploy.sh
index 9b5b69317a..1144a429d2 100755
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/deploy.sh
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ export ENABLE_LWS="${ENABLE_LWS:=false}"
 
 # Add command line options
 INTERACTIVE=false
-
+INSTALL_CRDS=false
 # Parse command line arguments
 while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
   key="$1"
@@ -50,11 +50,16 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
       INTERACTIVE=true
       shift
       ;;
+    --crds)
+      INSTALL_CRDS=true
+      shift
+      ;;
     --help)
       echo "Usage: $0 [options]"
       echo "Options:"
       echo "  --interactive       Run in interactive mode"
       echo "  --help              Show this help message"
+      echo "  --crds              Also install the CRDs"
       exit 0
       ;;
     *)
@@ -115,15 +120,6 @@ retry_command "$HELM_CMD repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami" 5
 retry_command "$HELM_CMD repo add minio https://charts.min.io/" 5 5 && \
 retry_command "$HELM_CMD repo update" 5 5
 
-cd platform
-cd components/operator
-retry_command "$HELM_CMD dependency update" 5 5
-cd ../..
-cd components/api-store
-retry_command "$HELM_CMD dependency update" 5 5
-cd ../..
-retry_command "$HELM_CMD dep update" 7 5
-cd ..
 
 # Generate the values file
 echo "Generating values file with:"
@@ -143,6 +139,7 @@ echo "INGRESS_CLASS: $INGRESS_CLASS"
 echo "ISTIO_GATEWAY: $ISTIO_GATEWAY"
 echo "DYNAMO_INGRESS_SUFFIX: $DYNAMO_INGRESS_SUFFIX"
 echo "VIRTUAL_SERVICE_SUPPORTS_HTTPS: $VIRTUAL_SERVICE_SUPPORTS_HTTPS"
+echo "INSTALL_CRDS: $INSTALL_CRDS"
 
 envsubst '${NAMESPACE} ${RELEASE_NAME} ${DOCKER_USERNAME} ${DOCKER_PASSWORD} ${DOCKER_SERVER} ${IMAGE_TAG} ${DYNAMO_INGRESS_SUFFIX} ${PIPELINES_DOCKER_SERVER} ${PIPELINES_DOCKER_USERNAME} ${PIPELINES_DOCKER_PASSWORD} ${DOCKER_SECRET_NAME} ${INGRESS_ENABLED} ${ISTIO_ENABLED} ${INGRESS_CLASS} ${ISTIO_GATEWAY} ${VIRTUAL_SERVICE_SUPPORTS_HTTPS} ${ENABLE_LWS}' < dynamo-platform-values.yaml > generated-values.yaml
 echo "generated file contents:"
@@ -157,6 +154,12 @@ cd platform
 retry_command "$HELM_CMD dep build" 5 5
 cd ..
 
+# Install/upgrade the helm chart for the CRDs
+if [ "$INSTALL_CRDS" = true ]; then
+  echo "Installing/upgrading helm chart for the CRDs..."
+  $HELM_CMD upgrade --install dynamo-crds crds/ --namespace default --wait --atomic
+fi
+
 # Install/upgrade the helm chart
 echo "Installing/upgrading helm chart..."
 $HELM_CMD upgrade --install $RELEASE_NAME platform/ \
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/dynamo-platform-values.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/dynamo-platform-values.yaml
index 5381901251..a5301c0f53 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/dynamo-platform-values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/dynamo-platform-values.yaml
@@ -66,6 +66,12 @@ dynamo-api-store:
           - path: /
             pathType: Prefix
 
+postgresql:
+  enabled: true
+
+minio:
+  enabled: true
+
 etcd:
   enabled: true
   persistence:
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/Chart.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/Chart.yaml
index 80fb57fa20..36e50cf8d9 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/Chart.yaml
@@ -38,3 +38,11 @@ dependencies:
     version: 11.1.0
     repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
     condition: etcd.enabled
+  - name: postgresql
+    version: 16.6.2
+    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
+    condition: postgresql.enabled
+  - name: minio
+    version: 16.0.2
+    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
+    condition: minio.enabled
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/Chart.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/Chart.yaml
index c4b86bf194..fa2d20618d 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/Chart.yaml
@@ -18,10 +18,4 @@ description: A Helm chart for the Dynamo API Store component
 type: application
 version: 0.1.0
 appVersion: "1.0.0"
-dependencies:
-  - name: postgresql
-    version: "16.6.2"  # This is an example; update with the latest version if needed
-    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
-  - name: minio
-    version: "16.0.2"
-    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
\ No newline at end of file
+dependencies: []
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/templates/deployment.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/templates/deployment.yaml
index a2e190ed9f..aa133f58ea 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ spec:
       initContainers:
         - name: wait-for-postgres
           image: busybox
-          command: [ 'sh', '-c', 'until nc -z {{ .Release.Name }}-postgresql 5432; do echo "PostgreSQL is unavailable. Sleeping for 5 seconds"; sleep 5; done;' ]
+          command: [ 'sh', '-c', 'until nc -z {{ .Values.postgresql.host | default (printf "%s-postgresql" .Release.Name) }} {{ .Values.postgresql.port | default 5432 }}; do echo "PostgreSQL is unavailable. Sleeping for 5 seconds"; sleep 5; done;' ]
       containers:
         - name: "api-store"
           securityContext:
@@ -61,17 +61,17 @@ spec:
           {{- end }}
           env:
             - name: DB_HOST
-              value:  "{{ .Release.Name }}-postgresql"
+              value: '{{ .Values.postgresql.host | default (printf "%s-postgresql" .Release.Name) }}'
             - name: DB_USER
-              value: {{ .Values.postgresql.auth.username | quote }}
+              value: '{{ .Values.postgresql.user | default "admin" }}'
             - name: DB_NAME
-              value: {{ .Values.postgresql.auth.database | quote }}
+              value: '{{ .Values.postgresql.database | default "dynamo" }}'
             - name: DB_PORT
-              value: "5432"
+              value: '{{ .Values.postgresql.port | default 5432 }}'
             - name: DB_PASSWORD
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
-                  name: "{{ .Release.Name }}-postgresql"
+                  name: '{{ .Values.postgresql.passwordSecret | default (printf "%s-postgresql" .Release.Name) }}'
                   key: password
             - name: SERVICE_PORT
               value: "8000"
@@ -84,15 +84,15 @@ spec:
             - name: DYN_OBJECT_STORE_ID
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
-                  name: "{{ .Release.Name }}-minio"
+                  name: '{{ .Values.minio.passwordSecret | default (printf "%s-minio" .Release.Name) }}'
                   key: root-user
             - name: DYN_OBJECT_STORE_KEY
               valueFrom:
                 secretKeyRef:
-                  name: "{{ .Release.Name }}-minio"
+                  name: '{{ .Values.minio.passwordSecret | default (printf "%s-minio" .Release.Name) }}'
                   key: root-password
             - name: DYN_OBJECT_STORE_ENDPOINT
-              value: "http://{{ .Release.Name }}-minio:9000"
+              value: 'http://{{ .Values.minio.host | default (printf "%s-minio" .Release.Name) }}:{{ .Values.minio.port | default 9000 }}'
           envFrom:
           - secretRef:
               name: dynamo-deployment-env
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/values.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/values.yaml
index 9052176aa2..55eff9bd25 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/api-store/values.yaml
@@ -91,55 +91,18 @@ istio:
   host: ""
   gateway: ""
 
-## In-cluster minio deployment configuration
-## ref: https://github.com/bitnami/charts/blob/minio/13.3.1/bitnami/minio/values.yaml
-## @param minio.apiIngress.enabled Enable ingress controller resource for MinIO API
-## @param minio.apiIngress.ingressClassName IngressClass that will be be used to implement the Ingress (Kubernetes 1.18+)
-## @param minio.apiIngress.hostname Default host for the ingress resource
+postgresql:
+  host: ""
+  port: 5432
+  # allow to override the secret name containing the postgres password
+  passwordSecret: ""
+  database: "dynamo"
+
 minio:
-  mode: standalone
-  auth:
-    rootUser: minioadmin
-    rootPassword: minioadmin
-  persistence:
-    enabled: true
-    size: 10Gi
-    storageClass: ""
-    mountPath: /data
-    annotations:
-      helm.sh/resource-policy: keep
-  apiIngress:
-    enabled: false
-    ingressClassName: ""
-    hostname: ""
-    pathType: ImplementationSpecific
-    annotations: {}
-  podSecurityContext:
-    enabled: true
-    fsGroup: 1000
-  containerSecurityContext:
-    enabled: true
-    runAsUser: 1000
-    runAsNonRoot: true
-    readOnlyRootFilesystem: false
-  startupProbe:
-    enabled: true
-    initialDelaySeconds: 10
-    periodSeconds: 10
-    timeoutSeconds: 5
-    failureThreshold: 6
-  resources:
-    requests:
-      memory: "256Mi"
-      cpu: "250m"
-    limits:
-      memory: "512Mi"
-      cpu: "500m"
-  service:
-    type: ClusterIP
-    ports:
-      api: 9000
-      console: 9001
+  host: ""
+  port: 9000
+  # allow to override the secret name containing the minio username and password
+  passwordSecret: ""
 
 resources: {}
   # We usually recommend not to specify default resources and to leave this as a conscious
@@ -157,14 +120,6 @@ dynamo:
   apiStore:
     port: 8000
 
-postgresql:
-  auth:
-    existingSecret: ""
-    postgresPassword: ""
-    username: "admin"
-    password: "password"
-    database: "dynamo"
-
 # This is to setup the liveness and readiness probes more information can be found here: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-liveness-readiness-startup-probes/
 livenessProbe:
   httpGet:
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/Chart.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/Chart.yaml
index 50a4ea2149..28a1a82933 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/Chart.yaml
@@ -33,7 +33,3 @@ version: 0.1.7
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
 appVersion: "0.1.0"
-dependencies:
-  - name: dynamo-crds
-    version: 0.1.6
-    repository: file://charts/dynamo-crds
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/values.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/values.yaml
index 67fa3c93a7..4c48f01312 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/components/operator/values.yaml
@@ -115,4 +115,7 @@ metricsService:
     port: 8443
     protocol: TCP
     targetPort: https
-  type: ClusterIP
\ No newline at end of file
+  type: ClusterIP
+
+natsAddr: ""
+etcdAddr: ""
diff --git a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
index f614e09962..ee5f6f3752 100644
--- a/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/cloud/helm/platform/values.yaml
@@ -88,20 +88,69 @@ dynamo-api-store:
         paths:
           - path: /
             pathType: Prefix
-  postgresql:
-    primary:
-      persistence:
-        enabled: false
-  minio:
+
+## In-cluster minio deployment configuration
+## ref: https://github.com/bitnami/charts/blob/minio/13.3.1/bitnami/minio/values.yaml
+## @param minio.apiIngress.enabled Enable ingress controller resource for MinIO API
+## @param minio.apiIngress.ingressClassName IngressClass that will be be used to implement the Ingress (Kubernetes 1.18+)
+## @param minio.apiIngress.hostname Default host for the ingress resource
+minio:
+  enabled: false
+  mode: standalone
+  auth:
+    rootUser: minioadmin
+    rootPassword: minioadmin
+  persistence:
+    enabled: true
+    size: 10Gi
+    storageClass: ""
+    mountPath: /data
+    annotations:
+      helm.sh/resource-policy: keep
+  apiIngress:
+    enabled: false
+    ingressClassName: ""
+    hostname: ""
+    pathType: ImplementationSpecific
+    annotations: {}
+  podSecurityContext:
+    enabled: true
+    fsGroup: 1000
+  containerSecurityContext:
+    enabled: true
+    runAsUser: 1000
+    runAsNonRoot: true
+    readOnlyRootFilesystem: false
+  startupProbe:
+    enabled: true
+    initialDelaySeconds: 10
+    periodSeconds: 10
+    timeoutSeconds: 5
+    failureThreshold: 6
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      memory: "256Mi"
+      cpu: "250m"
+    limits:
+      memory: "512Mi"
+      cpu: "500m"
+  service:
+    type: ClusterIP
+    ports:
+      api: 9000
+      console: 9001
+
+postgresql:
+  enabled: false
+  auth:
+    existingSecret: ""
+    postgresPassword: ""
+    username: "admin"
+    password: "password"
+    database: "dynamo"
+  primary:
     persistence:
-      enabled: true
-      size: 5Gi
-      storageClass: ""
-    apiIngress:
       enabled: false
-      ingressClassName: nginx
-      hostname: minio.example.com
-      pathType: Prefix
 
 etcd:
   enabled: false
diff --git a/docs/guides/dynamo_deploy/dynamo_cloud.md b/docs/guides/dynamo_deploy/dynamo_cloud.md
index df6682250f..3099040abb 100644
--- a/docs/guides/dynamo_deploy/dynamo_cloud.md
+++ b/docs/guides/dynamo_deploy/dynamo_cloud.md
@@ -148,18 +148,20 @@ kubectl create namespace $NAMESPACE
 kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=$NAMESPACE
 ```
 
-3. Deploy the helm chart using the deploy script:
+3. Deploy the Helm charts (install CRDs first, then platform) using the deployment script:
 
 ```bash
-./deploy.sh
+./deploy.sh --crds
 ```
 
 if you wish to be guided through the deployment process, you can run the deploy script with the `--interactive` flag:
 
 ```bash
-./deploy.sh --interactive
+./deploy.sh --crds --interactive
 ```
 
+omitting `--crds` will skip the CRDs installation/upgrade. This is useful when installing on a shared cluster as CRDs are cluster-scoped resources.
+
 4. **Expose Dynamo Cloud Externally**
 
 ``` {note}