What are the steps to CDMP Certification?

What is the CDMP Certification?

DAMA International offers the CDMP Certification programme to enable international recognition of a data professional's knowledge and skills.  

The DMBOK Version 2 is the basis for all the exam questions. 

What is the DMBOK? (Data Management Body of Knowledge)

The DMBOK is the comprehensive Data Management Body of Knowledge compiled by the thought leaders in all the Knowledge Areas of Data Management. The DMBOK ensures that data professionals worldwide have a shared understanding and speak a common "data language".

The sheer breadth of the DMBOK can be overwhelming, but it doesn't take long to realise that the focus of the DMBOK is the WHATs and WHYs of Data Management and not the HOW. 

All the other professional domain "Body of Knowledge" (BOK) that I am aware of (BIZBOK, BABOK & PMBOK) provide the same level of information. 

A BOK defines the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a professional domain defined by the relevant learned society or professional association (See Wikipedia). 

The HOW will be missing in all BOKs. It is up to the community to provide practices to deliver the required outputs. The practice definitions range between best, good, and emerging practices depending on the maturity and uncertainty level.

The appropriate BOK Certifications will test your understanding of the concepts and NOT your ability to deliver the work required by a sprint (project). It is essential for employers hiring these CDMP certified professionals to understand that it is their knowledge and understanding of data management and not their competency, which has been verified.

What is the value of CDMP certification to my career?

The most apparent reason to certify is that it makes you more employable worldwide.

It demonstrates that you understand your work and you are committed to your professional development. You understand how all the aspects of Data Management work together. It is, therefore, less risky for employers to employ certified people. A hard-working data professional, growing his or her skills, is an asset to any organisation. Your CDMP Certification helps to open doors for employment and consultancy opportunities.

A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns a living from a specified professional activity. You earn Professional credentials. 

Academic institutions award credentials, and a recognised professional organisation will verify one's professional qualifications and competences. The number of worldwide academic institutions that provide data/information management credentials is minimal. 

The lack of academic data management qualifications creates a demand for professional data management certifications that provide employers with a comfort level concerning your "earned" status.  

In my opinion, the most significant justification for certification is that as an employer, I know that you understand and can explain the fundamental principles of data management. You can apply these principles to any situation and technology facing you.

Are my skills and experience suitable for CDMP Certification?

Data Management Professionals and Specialists, who would write the three CDMP exams necessary to gain CDMP Practitioner or CDMP Master are the primary candidates.  

Data Stewards, Data Citizens and Data Managers benefit from preparing for and writing the Data Management Fundamentals exam to achieve CDMP Associate. This achievement demonstrates that they have a common understanding of Data Management and how all the Knowledge Areas relate to each other.

What are the different levels of CDMP certification (and which one is right for me)?

The CDMP Associate, CDMP Practitioner and CDMP Master, are different certification levels but are not a progression.  

Your exam score determines your level, but in the case of Master, also on your 10+ years of data experience.  

CDMP Associate

If you pass the Data Management Fundamentals exam with 60% to 69%, you will be awarded the CDMP Associate level certification. This CDMP level is not a full CDMP certification but is really meant to encourage anyone who uses data but is not a specialist.

The CDMP Associate expires after three years and cannot be renewed. You have to retake the Data Management Fundamentals exam.

CDMP Practitioner

If you pass the Data Management Fundamentals exam with 70% to 79%, you will automatically be awarded the CDMP Associate certification. You will also be eligible to complete two specialist exams, which you need to pass with over 70% to achieve full CDMP Practitioner certification. 

CDMP Master

CDMP Master certification is a recognition of both knowledge and experience. To achieve over 80% on all three exams requires the application of your knowledge. DAMA International requires proof that you have a minimum of ten years of data experience.

What is the structure of a CDMP exam?

The exams all have one hundred multiple-choice questions, each with five options. Half the questions are relatively straightforward, with one correct answer and four distractors. 25% are more challenging, with some alternatives rather than all distractors. In other words, there is more than one possible answer, and you need to be able to pick the best one. Only Master Level candidates should be able to answer the final 25%. These require the application of your knowledge.

The test platform automatically generates each exam from a large pool of questions. Each instance of an exam is different. The generating algorithm selects the right number of questions in the weight categories, and in the case of the Data Management Fundamentals, allocates them by Knowledge Area as follows:

The available exams are:

The Core exam: 

• Data Management Fundamentals covers chapters 1 to 14 of the DMBOK V2 as above.

Specialist exams:

• Data Governance: Chapters 1,2,3,15,16,17 and Section 6 of all the other chapters
• Data Quality: Chapter 13
• Data Modelling & Design: Chapter 5
• Metadata: Chapter 12
• Master & Reference Data: Chapter 10
• Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence: Chapter 11
• Data Integration & Interoperability: Chapter 12

The exams are 90 minutes long. All candidates whose first language is not English are entitled to write the ESL (English Second Language) version of each exam. This option allocates 110 minutes.

How can I prepare for CDMP certification?

The exams are all based on the DMBOK Version 2. You need your own copy to study and to refer to during the exam. You may get a pdf copy from https://technicspub.com/dmbok/ for $59.00. 

Hard copies may be purchased online at www.loot.co.za or www.takealot.co.za in South Africa.

Modelware Systems has developed an exam preparation course, Data Management for Certification, to go through the entire DMBOK. We have developed a study guide and practice questions. We also invite any course participants to join a lunchtime study group for a deeper dive into the material.

Anyone studying for the exam should keep the weighting of the chapters in mind and spend more time on those with 10 or 11 questions.

How can I take the CDMP exam?

All the exams are available online at https://cdmp.info/. They are hosted on the Canvas Learning Management System and are proctored online by the Honorlock system. They are available anywhere, anytime. You need a quiet place where you won't be disturbed. Honorlock monitors your camera and microphone, and if something suspicious is detected, it pauses your exam. There is continuous support to resolve problems, and there is also a facility to test Honorlock with your system.

Once you enrol for an exam, you will get unlimited access to the 40 question practice test, which comprises actual exam questions. Your enrolment never expires, so there is no pressure to write the main exam before you are ready.

Pre-Covid, DAMA SA could host an annual exam event where candidates were allowed one free retry on failure (<60%). We hope to be able to organise such an event once it is safe again.

What resources will I need to take the exam?

All the exams are open-book exams, so you need your copy of the DMBOK. It can be a hard copy or a pdf. The pdf must be on another device as Honorlock does not allow you to have an extra screen or navigate the exam site. You are allowed to have other books, study notes and rough paper as well.

The computer you use must run Google Chrome, as Honorlock requires a Chrome add-in. Your computer must also have a camera and microphone.

What do I get once I pass?

There is no set order in which you take the exams, although it makes sense to do the Data Management Fundamentals first. No matter what your pass mark is, you will also receive a CDMP Associate badge.  

You will only receive your CDMP Practitioner of Master badge once you have completed the three exams. At that point, you also receive a certificate from DAMA International.

You also don't have to do three exams before you get anything. The CDMP Certification process uses Badgr to maintain a record of all the exams you have achieved. Each badge may be shared on LinkedIn and may also be verified online at https://badgecheck.io/.  

If you pass an exam, for instance, Data Quality, with a score of 82%, you will receive three badges:

• Data Quality Associate
• Data Quality Practitioner
• Data Quality Master  

How much will it cost?

Each exam costs USD311.00. If you fail (under 60%), there is no minimum waiting period, but the retake costs USD200.00, plus USD11.00 for Honorlock.  

The verification of your Master's experience costs USD50.00.  

DAMA International only accepts credit card payments, but we have access to a bulk pay facility to purchase exams on behalf of organisations and individuals.

Where can you find out more about CDMP certification?

We host a weekly CDMP Q&A meeting on Microsoft Teams between 10 and 11 am every Friday.

You can join in here: https://tinyurl.com/n6ni20l7

Recommended extra study material for the specialist exams

We maintain a spreadsheet of the two or three most helpful books to read in each Knowledge Area. It is updated regularly, so please email Debbie at social@modelwaresystems.com for a copy.

Most books are available in an e-book format.

You can get a 20% discount for some of these books at https://technicspub.com/ if you use the coupon code: Modelware. (This does not include the DMBOK products).

For more information, visit the Modelware Systems Website.