In my recent projects, Data Governance and Master and Reference data were one of the main deliverables. That means the need to dig into the domain of Data Governance! It is a challenging and somewhat daunting task, but also very motivating as the more I read on the topic, the more I see this value.
In this post, I explain how I prepared for the Data Management Fundamentals Exam to gain the CDMP Associate Certification. My next goal is to get the CDMP Practitioner certification.
- So, why should you take the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) certification?
- What are the DAMA certifications?
- How did I prepare for the Data Management Fundamentals Exam?
So, why should you take the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) certification?
With the ever-growing need for insights from data in combination with the exponential growth of data itself, the need for controlling this data has never been more relevant. Still, people either tend to frown or fall asleep when the topic of Data Governance is raised. My experience is that it often is associated with less freedom, more bureaucracy and slower progress.
But that is not true!
In order to serve the insights, consistency, quality, availability and security of the data within an organization, data governance is fundamental. As data is growing, self-service solutions are becoming more available, organizations are more at risk of security breaches as data is not where it should be, ambiguity and distrust in reports and databases as KPIs and master and reference data deviate – to mention a few challenges.
So, how can we build the necessary trust needed in our data?
When preparing for the certification, I learned that governance really is about much more than just making rules and policies – it is about understanding the bigger picture. We cannot only care about the roles, policies, and rules. We also need to consider the architectural approach, data modelling, storage solution, quality processes and security.
Data Governance is relevant to anyone who works with the bigger picture as Architects, Business Managers, IT Managers
Therefore I think the DMDBOK2 is relevant for anyone in a role that works to understand the bigger picture, whether it is technical or business. Not only the data governance-specific roles.
What are the DAMA certifications?
There are 4 certification levels you can take. In this blog I explain how I prepared for the Data Management Fundamentals Exam to gain the CDMP Associate Certification.
- CDMP Associate
- 60 % pass on the Data Management Fundamentals Exam
- CDMP Practitioner
- 70 % pass on the Data Management Fundamentals Exam
- 70 % pass on two of the Specialist Exams
- 2-10 years of industry experience
- CDMP Master
- 80 % pass on the Data Management Fundamentals Exam
- 80 % pass on two of the Specialist Exams
- 10+ years of industry experience
- CDMP Fellow
- 25+ years of industry experience
- Globally recognised & respected thought leadership
- A significant contribution to the Data Management profession
- CDMP Master
- Contribution to CDMP & DMBOK
- By nomination
How did I prepare for the Data Management Fundamentals Exam?
I did the 4 following:
- Give yourself a deadline
- Purchase the Exam
- Read the DMBOK2
- Do the practice exam over and over (and over) again
1. Give yourself a deadline
Start by making a master plan.
What week are you planning to take the exam? Block your calendar right away. You need approximately 2-3 hours to finish the exam.
DAMA recommends 3 weeks (with some level of focus and time set aside) to prepare for the exam. I personally used 5 weeks from I made the commitment until I took the exam. I think this was a bit too long as I was not stressed enough to prioritize time to prepare for the first couple of weeks.
Set a deadline and block an exam slot in your calendar from the start
tip #1
Anyways, we are all different! The most important thing is that you make a plan and set a deadline for yourself.
2. Purchase the exam
In order to stay true to my deadline I purchased the exam. The exam does not have an expiration date or scheduled time, and you can take it whenever it suits you. Still, I would recommend purchasing the exam when you have given yourself a deadline as the commitment is stronger, and you get access to a training exam that I found super useful!
Purchase the exam right away – this way you have commited from start
tip #2
The cost of the exam is USD$311.
See more on how to purchase the exam here. Choose “Purchase” under the Data Management Fundamentals Exam box.
3. Read the DMBOK2
You can purchase the DMBOK2 here.
The DMBOK2 consists of 17 chapters and the first 15 chapters are the ones you will be tested on for the Data Management Fundamentals Exam.
I started by reading the book cover to cover but then realised that I did not have time to do this for all chapters to stay true to my deadline. The chapters are weighted differently for the exam. Therefore, I started prioritizing the chapters with the highest representation in the exam. I skimmed the rest of the chapters, focusing on headlines, sections, figures and definitions.
Focus on the chapters with the highest weight
Tip #3
| No | Chapter | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data Management Process | 2 % |
| 2 | Data Ethics | 2 % |
| 3 | Data Governance | 11 % |
| 4 | Data Architecture | 6 % |
| 5 | Data Modelling and Design | 11 % |
| 6 | Data Storage and Operations | 6 % |
| 7 | Data Security | 6 % |
| 8 | Data Integration and Interoperability | 6 % |
| 9 | Document and Content Management | 6 % |
| 10 | Master and Reference Data Management | 10 % |
| 11 | Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence | 10 % |
| 12 | Metadata Management | 11 % |
| 13 | Data Quality | 11 % |
| 14 | Big Data | 2 % |
4. Do the practice exam over and over (and over) again
When you purchase the exam you also get a practice exam.
The practice exam is in the same visual format as the actual exam. You get 40 questions and 30 minutes to answer them. This is the same relative time you will have to answer all the 100 questions on the actual exam. Therefore, you also get to practice answering the questions in the given time.
Personally, I find it demotivating to just read an entire book without a “task” at hand. Therefore, I used the practice exam questions to help me work with the different chapters and sections.
Whenever there was a question I answered incorrectly, I looked it up in the book and made sure I understood the topic for the relevant question. This was a great way to consume the book.
Use the practice exam actively to look up relevant topics in the book
tip #4
Let me know how it goes! Good luck!
Data Ascend 
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