Why did you decide to get certified?

I recently posted this question on the CDMP LinkedIn discussion forum, and some interesting responses have been rolling in. The following was posted by Patrick McMullen, Data Architect at the Walt Disney Company (included here with permission):

Wizard of Oz: "Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma."

From one company to the next, the degree of commitment to sound architectural principles and IT program management differs. The responsibilities / roles / job descriptions and job titles of data modelers, data architects, data analysts, etc. varies. Passing a series of standardized exams covering a wide range of data management best practices, and meeting the ongoing requirements for continuing professional development, offers potential employers assurance that a candidate possesses broad knowledge and experience in data management. Someone who patches together a few badly designed, poorly documented database tables lacking in referential integrity might claim to have performed "data architecture" on his resume. CDMP certification offers hiring managers the assurance that a candidate possesses real knowledge of Data Management best practices, and a level of commitment to professional development.

Given two individuals with similiar educational achievements - an individual with a diploma, and one who fell 3 credits short of earning a diploma - the individual with the diploma isn't noticeably smarter than his diploma-less counterpart, but that piece of paper will open doors that would otherwise be shut. If, at some point, you may wish to be hired, promoted or simply retained, it would be best to make it easy on management to justify your qualifications. All things being equal, I would rather be the candidate with professional certification.

Dorothy: "How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?"
Scarecrow: "I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?"

Linked In Membership Growing

I have been getting new member requests weekly, and we now have over 40 members of the CDMP LinkedIn group! There is even starting to be some discussion activity. If you are a Certified Data Management Professional or are actively pursuing certification, you are welcome to join. I hope that this community will grow and the discussions will become more active. Let others know that you are certified by joining the group!

Eva

7 more CDMPs earned at Seattle Bootcamp

Another successful CDMP Bootcamp was held in the Seattle area on October 30-31! This time it was at the Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (WSIPC) TEC center in Everett, right next to Boeing field. Two people came from out of town to join the bootcamp this year. Mona Pomraning came all the way from Texas! Theo Spanos drove up from Portland, also giving the Portland DAMA chapter one more CDMP. The DAMA-PS Chapter and Seattle area now has five new certified data management professionals: Past President Bill Hoke, Jeannette Rodin, John Parent, ChaiJen To, and Jay Gardner.

As always, it was exhausting, but also a great opportunity for data professionals to share knowledge and support each other in working toward a common goal of getting certified. Thanks to WSIPC for allowing the use of their beautiful lab for two days.

Online CDMP Exam Cram November 29 - 30

WEB604 - CDMP Exam Cram

Description: The Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) is offered by the ICCP and DAMA International (www.dama.org

). This course prepares individuals to take the CDMP examinations. By attending this review session you can improve your likelihood of passing at the Expert/Mastery level by 30%. The CDMP at the Expert/Mastery level can also be used to qualify for the I.S.P. (www.cips.ca

) and also for the CBIP (www.tdwi.org

)

This course is offered virtually in a Webinar format using Elluminate. To register contact the ICCP office at 1-800-843-8227 or office@iccp.org.

TOPICS:
DAY 1:
1. Introductions and course goals
2. CDMP requirements, Test items, Skills-Gap Analysis
3. Item Writer's Guide - strategies to answer questions,
4. Information Systems Core (ISCORE) and related topics.
5. Data Management Exam (DM)

DAY 2: (Specialty Exams)
6. Data Warehousing Exam (DW) and Business Intelligence & Analytics (BIA)
7. Data and Information Quality Exam (DIQ)
8. Data Base Administration Exam (DBA) & Systems Development (SDV)
9. Associated Topics and Next Steps

Length: 2 days
Days: Saturday & Sunday
Time: 12.00pm-6.00pm (EST).
Participant Min: 4; Max: 12
Examinations: 1st examination - within 30 days of course completion.
Proctoring arrangements: USA: ICCP office; Canada: CIPS/PDIT (mjk at cips.ca

)
Registration: USA: contact ICCP office at office@iccp.org; Canada, contact CIPS/PDIT (mjk at cips.ca

)
Fees: USD$295 (reduced fees for ICCP holders and I.S.P. holders using this course for recertification credits - contact CIPS/ICCP office)
CEU Credits: 12 CECs (continuing education credits - 10 CECs = 1 college credit)
Materials: Once registered, you will receive USD$165 worth of course study and reference materials for your future needs.
Pay-if-Pass: For those individuals who register for these courses, you will be able to take the FIRST examination only on a “pay if you pass” basis if the exam is taken with the ICCP office proctoring the exam. Note: for the CDMP Practitioner level the pass rate is 50%.
Instructor: Pat Cupoli, CBIP, CCP, CDMP

The ICCP also has study materials available to purchase. If you go to the following link, http://www.iccp.org/iccpnew/materials.html

you will see the materials available. To order any study materials, you can either call the ICCP office at 1-800-843-8227 and order with a credit card or you can fax an order (fax number: 847-299-4280) or you can mail a check or money order to the ICCP office at 2350 E. Devon Avenue, Suite 115, Des Plaines, IL 60018.

Portland CDMP Bootcamp

The Portland DAMA Chapter has six new Certified Data Management Professionals after this week's CDMP Bootcamp! The first Portland Bootcamp was held on August 25-26, 2008 at The Standard in downtown Portland, OR. On Day 1, the class drilled through sample questions and discussed topics on the Core I.T. exam in the morning. The collective contributions from the class participants helped everyone gain a better understanding of linear programming, accounting and statistics. For many it was just digging out buried knowledge and remembering it was there! After lunch, the Core I.T. exam was given, and EVERYONE passed at the masters level on the first try! What a confidence builder! After that, the group was ready to tackle the Data Management exam, and after discussing the DM study materials for a couple more hours, the exam was given at 4:30 pm. It was a very long but productive day.

After a long Monday, we decided to start day 2 with some quiet time to take specialty exams first thing in the morning or do some individual studying. Then we covered exam questions for the Data Warehouse exam and had some lively discussions about various aspects of data warehousing, the differences between OLAP, ROLAP, HOLAP and other relevant topics. This group clearly had some experienced data warehousing professionals! We ended the day with more exams for those who still had exams to take or retake. Overall it was a very fun and successful Bootcamp! I invite the participants to stay in touch and share their experiences in comments or guest posts on this blog as well.

Zachman Enterprise Architecture Exam ready for beta!

On August 8-10, 2008, a team of ICCP exam developers completed a weekend marathon session in Montreal to create the first ICCP certification exam focused on THE ZACHMAN FRAMEWORK FOR ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE™.

The team was comprised of experienced ICCP exam developers Pat Cupoli, Francine Adams, Loretta Smith, Gil Laware, Deborah Henderson and Eva Smith (me), along with subject matter experts John A. Zachman, John P. Zachman (Jr.) and Stan Locke. About 70 questions were submitted by various authors before the session. In over 25 hours of intense discussions, these questions were reviewed in detail, revised and refined by the group. The team also worked together to write more than 4o new questions to complete an initial pool for the 110 question exam. It was quite a memorable experience! :)

The exam will soon be offered as a free beta over the next few months and will be one of the qualifying exams for the CDMP. It covers the latest updates to the Enterprise Architecture Framework, so those interested in taking the exam will want to brush up by studying the most current publications at http://zachmaninternational.com/. (Trust me, you WILL want to brush up on your knowledge of the Framework, even if you think you know it well... Although the basic Framework concepts and principles remain the same, there are some changes in terminology that are covered on this exam.)

Stay tuned for more information about the beta and locations where it will be offered....

First Time In

Thanks for inviting me ! I have been a CMDP ( Masters Level) since 2004 and have just been through the renewal process. It wasn't too painful but there weren't any PDU's available at that time for participation in the organization of Data management - in particular DAMA International. Now there is ! thanks ICCP.

Preparing for CDMP Exams

Pat and I often get questions about how to prepare for the CDMP exams. There are many ways to approach this, and several study guide publications available. Here's a list of some available resource for purchase:

• Published by the ICCP, The Certified Data Management Professional Guide textbook and The Certified Business Intelligence Professional textbook are available for purchase through the ICCP. These comprehensive guides contain information about the certification process, as well as outlines and sample questions for Core Exam and each of the CDMP qualifying exams.

• DAMA International also publishes two additional study guides that provide more in depth information, and sample questions, for the Data Management Exam and the Data Warehouse Exam. These are available for purchase through DAMA-I (info@dama.org) or through the ICCP (ICCP office@iccp.org or call 1-800-843-8227).

• In addition to these self-study guides, the ICCP offers two tutor-supported online courses: Information Systems CORE and Systems Analysis & Design (supports the Systems Development exam). Exam Prep Bootcamps are also available for DAMA chapters or groups of 10 or more. These are a great way to get certified quickly. Contact the ICCP office for more information about these.

• You can also get an idea of what test questions will be like by trying the sample tests available through ICCP. You can purchase these for $35 each - much less than taking the exam. If you are clueless about the answers on the sample tests, it's an indication that you may need more prep before springing for the full exam. If you feel fairly confident after taking the tests, even if you get a few answers wrong, your knowledge-level is probably at least in the ballpark to pass the exam.

Since several of the newer exams don't yet have formal study materials, I suggest that people do independent study by reviewing the exam subject outlines from ICCP.org and research the topics on the outline using the web. One way to do this is to start with a search engine or Wikipedia and follow links to bibliographical references. Also, you can check out the related publications and authors that are listed on the DAMA website. Buy or borrow related printed materials, and scan the available online information.

I will also be doing a series of postings "from the trenches" on this blog. Over time, I hope to provide a forum for the CDMP community to post additional study suggestions and links to online, freely available resources for each of the CDMP exams on this blog, so if you have some useful ideas or resources you would like to share with others, please let me know, and stay tuned...

More Data Governance

The second day of the conference began with an entertaining keynote by Terry Goodbody from Pinnacle Entertainment. Pinnacle is a gaming/gambling company. I hadn't really thought about the data required to managing a gambling operation, but it is extensive, and compliance is a big deal. The casinos can be closed down if data and operations are not compliant with the state and federal gambling commission regulations. Terry said that everyone in his I.T. organization that has access to corporate data must be trained and licensed by the commission. His presentation was enlightening and full of funny antecdotes.

I also attended Pablo Riboldi's session on Data Governance at a Large, Bureaucratic, Non-profit Organization - Year 1. Pablo is implementing Data Governance at the LDS Church, a huge organization with many applications and a lot of data. He provided a pragmatic view of the process, including those things that did and did not work. He also had some very good "take-aways" and examples of policies, principles and communications that he developed. The principles were well grounded in basic data management principles of data as a corporate asset.

In the afternoon, the Special Interest Group for "Building the Business Case for Data Governance" was also very useful, led by Danette McGilvray. We broke up into groups and did a short exercise on writing a business case statement for a particular audience, then shared the results. The Keynote Panel on Ethics was also thought provoking. The panelists all provided various perspectives on ethical and legal challenges related to data. Dominique Shelton, an attorney, provided insight on some of the legal issues emerging related to Web 2.0 and data.

Overall, it was another full day that sparked many new ideas to ponder.

Data Governance - Day 1

I'm exhausted after a long day of workshops. The first day of the Data Governance conference in San Francisco was all pre-conference tutorial sessions. It began with a great buffet breakfast that included eggs and croissants! Much more than continental. The morning tutorial that I attended was Bob Seiner's "The Stewardship Approach to Data Governance: Let's Be Practical." It was indeed, a practical approach that Bob calls the "non-invasive" approach to data governance. What I took away from this session was the idea that data governance can be accomplished without the perception of control and adding overhead. By using a common data matrix to make implicit relationships more explicit, the stewardship roles can be identified and existing decision-making structures within an organization can be leveraged to accomplish data governance.

The lunch meal was so-so. The typical conference chicken dish. However, I had the opportunity to talk with some interesting folks at our table. It was delightful to talk with a business SME who was attending a data management conference for the first time. She told me that she is interested in becoming a data management professional, and wondered if I could give her some advice about what kind of training is needed to get into this field. Good question! I told her about CDMP, but realized that somehow this isn't enough for someone new to the profession - we need to have a better answer to questions like this!

In the afternoon, I attended "Developing an Effective Culture Change Management Plan for Data Governance and Master Data Management" led by John Ladley and Pam Thomas. This contained many useful gems and tools for any change management project. The most useful tool was the survey and assessment exercise that we did in small groups at the end of the session. Although I often do this to my students, I dread doing small group work when I'm at conferences... however, this was most enlightening. Using the tools and data provided, our group was able to identify a set of change management actions for a case study project in less than 30 minutes.

The day ended with a panel of the day's presenters, led by Peter Aiken. Each presenter shared a tool, template or technique from their sessions. This was a nice way to wrap up the day, and also get some additional information about sessions I could not attend. I liked this aspect of the conference. So far, I've gained a lot of practical tools from this conference that I can apply right away in various projects that I'm working on.

Blogging Data Governance in San Francisco

I'll be at the Data Governance Conference this week and will try to blog observations from the conference. Many old friends from the DM community are here presenting and attending.

Portland takes on Seattle

On May 20th, I gave an overview presentation of certification and the CDMP process to 35+ DAMA members at the Portland chapter. It was an enthusiastic and interactive group, and over 20 of those who attended indicated interest in going through the Exam Prep "Boot Camp" and taking the exams to become certified. In November, 2007, the Seattle Chapter's Exam Prep Boot Camp produced 7 new CDMPs, and Bill Hoke, chapter president, issued a challenge to the other DAMA chapters to beat this number. Wayne Little and the folks in Portland have taken up the challenge and will strive to get at least 8 new CDMPs certified during their 2-day Boot Camp in Portland. This will be scheduled for the last week in August - the specific dates and location are yet to be determined. I'll post the details here once they are firmed up.

Portland is also planning to proctor the Data and Information Quality free beta exam after its June meeting, for anyone who is interested in taking it. Those who pass the free beta exam will be able to pay a small conversion fee to apply it toward their CDMP.

It was a great trip. The Portland folks were fun and friendly, and it was nice to see some familiar faces at the meeting. I'm looking forward to doing the Boot Camp with them in August!

AITP 13th Annual National Collegiate Conference

In spite of recent declines in I.T. program enrollment in many U.S. colleges, there is evidence that interest in the profession is still alive and well! The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) holds an annual collegiate conference with attendees from colleges all over the U.S.. This year, 673 representatives from over 70 colleges and universities attended the conference, March 27-29 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Several of our ICCP Board members were at the conference, and ICCP was one of the more than 60 sponsors and exhibitors at the conference. The following are some highlights from the trip report circulated to the ICCP Board on April 3rd:

There are many contests for student teams to "show what they know" at this conference. Some of the data management skill competitions this year were the Database Contest, Systems Analysis & Design Contest (sponsored by State Farm), New Blade Server/Data Center contest (sponsored by Blade Systems Alliance), Application Development Contest (sponsored by Wal-Mart) and the Business Intelligence Contest (sponsored by CMU Research Corporation) for both undergraduate and graduate students.

ICCP proctored 90 exams, taken by 52 attendees, with 17 Associate Computing Professional (ACP) and 3 Certified Computing Professional (CCP) certifications earned at the conference. This is a good way for students to get experience taking these exams, and to assess their own skills to identify areas where they may need to develop more knowledge in their studies or job experiences.

Professional associations and these kinds of conferences are wonderful collaborations between colleges and businesses. They create a sense of community for students, connect them with each other and with hiring businesses, and inspire professional pride and enthusiasm. DAMA can also influence students' interest in pursuing data management related professions early in their careers. Even though DAMA does not yet have a strong presence on college campuses, as a member of the ICCP, we connect with other professional associations like AITP and ACM that have active student chapters. With our curriculum framework and certification exams we have begun to influence the subjects that are taught in I.T. programs, and perhaps we will also see more specializations in data management. As we mature as a profession, we also need to pay attention to the next generation.

Three new CDMP holders!

Three more people successfully completed exams at the 2008 DAMA Conference to attain the CDMP designation. In addition, 24 people took the Information and Data Quality Beta exam. This was a great turnout and we would like to thank all who took the beta. We received a lot of good feedback that will help to improve the exam. The beta will also be given at the IDQ Conference at MIT this summer, and is available for chapters interested in giving the beta for free at chapter meetings.

Please contact the ICCP office at office@iccp.org or by phone at (847)299-4227 or (800-843-8227) "800-U-GET-CCP" if you would like to have the Information and Data Quality beta exam proctored at your chapter.

Zachman Enterprise Architecture - Next Exam in Development

John Zachman announced his latest iteration of the Zachman Framework at the DAMA Symposium, the "Zachman Framework2." Along with the changes to the Framework, the ICCP is working on a new CDMP exam focused on the Zachman Enterprise Architecture. An exam outline has been developed and reviewed by John and by Stan Locke, with a proposed time frame for completion by the end of 2008.

(Pat Cupoli and Eva Smith, DAMA/ICCP Directors, with John Zachman at the 2008 DAMA Symposium in San Diego.)

How Far Can You Go?

Do you have goals? I bet they don't stack up to Conference Keynote Speaker and long distance swimmer, Lynne Cox's! Or perhaps you never thought of swimming the English Channel, or the icy waters of Antarctica. After Lynne's inspirational account of her long distance swimming adventures, I had a new appreciation for what it means to set your mind to something and achieve it.

When she was fifteen years old, Lynne swam the English channel and set a record, then she beat the record again a few years later. In 1987, she had to wade through a myriad of politics to make a goodwill swim to the Soviet Union, and if that wasn't enough for one lifetime, she was the first person to swim over a mile in the icy waters of Antarctica (without a wetsuit!). Burrrrr! That definitely pushes the limits of what our human physiology is designed to handle. A Discovery Channel video was shown of her swimming to Antarctica. Her message is that sometimes weird ideas can work out really well and if you put your mind to something, you can make big things happen. With big ideas and a great team you can achieve anything. When someone from the audience asked if she had other passions besides swimming, writing and speaking she quickly quipped "yes, Data Management," bringing a roar of laughter and applause from the audience.

I had an unexpected opportunity to meet Lynne later in the day (and wow, I even got someone to take a picture!). I was curious about how long it takes for her body to recover from the cold after a swim in icy waters. She said it can take 3 or 4 days, and her swimming accomplishments have contributed to scientific knowledge about how the human body recovers from cold. Her warm and genuine speaking style and amazing stories were inspirational. They illustrate how much humans can accomplish with smart and focused determination. I'm ready to go get her book!

DAMA-DMBOK in Practice

The DAMA-DMBOK framework is starting to develop a life of its own. There were two sessions on Wednesday related to how the DMBOK is being used. The first, by Glenn J. Thomas, was "Application of the DMBOK in an Enterprise Data Architecture." Glenn (pictured here) gave a very entertaining presentation about how the Commonwealth Office of Technology for the State of Kentucky is using the DMBOK as a framework for promoting an enterprise data strategy.

The second presentation was on "Applying the DMBOK to Assess and Align Public Health Surveillance" was given by Donna D. Medeiros of RTI International. This was a different approach, in which the DMBOK is being used as a framework for assessing the data management practices of pharmaceutical studies and healthcare organizations. Donna also actively promoted the CDMP in her talk. She said that her manager required that she become certified, which motivated her to complete the exams within 4 months. In discussions after the presentations, both speakers are avid supporters of the CDMP in their organizations.

Data Mashup Panel

Peter Aiken gave an introduction about what a mashup is by playing "Bootylicious Smells Like Teen Spirit," a well known example of music mashup of Destiny Child's "Bootylicious" and Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit."

Web mashups combine data from multiple sources into a single visual representation. Why is this important to data professionals? Peter pointed out that if we aren't paying attention, this trend could become like XML, where programmers embrace its capabilities, with little regard for the data implications.

Mashups allow programmers to bring data together from various sources into a single service. Someone asked how this relates to Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), and one of the panel members responded that it can be published as a data service. Peter added that this is still evolving.

Dean Allemang talked about using RDFA to build Semantic Mashups. In the early days of the web, there were no links to maps, then came mapquest that could map all. Now you can see all kinds of data on a map, like houses on Craigs list. However, this example has only one data source. On the other hand, an example like Piggybank, a Firefox extension, allows the Firefox browser to be a mashup platform, pulling data from multiple sources to be displayed in a single view. The RDF metadata model provides the ultimate mashup language.

Data Modeling & XML

In his presentation on "Data Modeling and XML: Two Ways to Structure Data," David Hay proposed that the ER model represents the semantics of an organization whereas XML is an implementation language for moving data. Unfortunately some who are promoting XML don't recognize the difference and skip the semantic modeling step altogether. Just because you have tags doesn't mean that you agree on the meaning of the data.

Showing a graphic representation of an XML schema side by side illustrated the value of the data model for visually analyzing the correctness of relationships. David pointed out that in modeling it is more important to be clear than correct.

Another consideration is that XML is fundamentally hierarchical, and non-hierarchical relationships are not easily represented in XML. As a result, a data model can be derived from the XML schema, but the hierarchical structure limits its use for storing, retrieving and validating data. Although there is some data type and format structure imposed for validation, with XML Schema, there is an assumption that the data is already semantically valid.

David's recommendation is to use data modeling first to understand the problem and meaning of the data, then determine how it will be converted to XML for data transport. He emphasized that XML is a technological design tool, not a data structure design tool.

Homemade Jam Session

The DAMA conference would not be the same without the annual Homemade Jam session. DM musicians entertained a crowd on Monday night. The line-up included improvisational blues to sing-along favorites such as "Brown Sugar" and Pat Benatar's "Hit me with Your Best Shot."

Winners of 2008 DAMA-I Awards

DAMA President John Schley presented the 2008 DAMA-I awards at the DAMA Members meeting on Monday evening.

Here were this year's winners:

Award	Candidate Name	Bio	Title
Academic	John Talburt, Ph.D. University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Began the MS and PhD in Information Quality programs, has worked for many years to promote the teaching of information and data quality in traditional MIS courses and programs	Professor, Information Science – University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Professional	David Marco	Founded EWSolutions in 1997, leading expert in meta data management, lecturer and author of 2 books on meta data management	President and Founder, EWSolutions, Inc.
Government	Suzanne Acar	Senior Information Architect and Co-chair, Federal Data Architecture Subcommittee (DAS) Office of the Secretary (OCIO) U.S. Department of the Interior	Senior Information Architect U.S. Department of the Interior
Community	N. Michael Scofield	A tireless and highly effective campaigner for improved data quality and data management practices, as an employee, consultant, author, and presenter. 20+ year member of Los Angeles chapter of DAMA – held most positions on the chapter board over the years	Manager, Data Asset Development – ESRI, Inc.

Would you trust this guy with your data?

A little bit of blarney from the DataFlux sponsored party on St. Patty's day Monday. There was food, music and social time for all. Some even had a Wii bit of fun with virtual bowling and baseball.

New Career Center on DAMA.org

David Rafner of the DAMA International Board provided this announcement:

DAMA-I has just updated its web content management system. They are still tuning up the content and appearance but have added a very nice feature that they hope you will appreciate – a full-featured career center.

The new career center offers both employers and prospective employees enhancements that is expected will significantly increase the popularity of this site to anyone in data management related fields. Because the career center draws from a pool of hundreds of thousands of jobs, professionals in areas such as data modeling, data architecture, enterprise architecture, BI, etc., will be able to quickly find jobs in these categories. Check it out: http://www.jobtarget.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=2741

Anne Marie in Action

Anne Marie Smith was one of the first to kick off the 2008 conference on Sunday afternoon with her workshop on Developing Robust Business Requirements. In her usual lively style, she engaged the group in discussion and used fun stories from her family to illustrate key points. At one point she asked people to share their job titles. There were all kinds of titles, from IT specialist to data architect. Then she asked how many in the room saw their role as being primarily a business or data analyst, even if their title did not reflect that. The majority of participants raised hands. Interesting. She noted that we're a profession that is supposed to be semantically precise, but we don't even know what to call ourselves!

Flickr Group for DAMA 2008 Symposium

Anyone can join and load pictures into the photo pool or discuss experiences at the DAMA 2008 Symposium group. See images from the conference here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/dama2008/

The Chapter Challenge

At the President's Council meeting on Sunday, Eva announced that Seattle now has 8 CDMP holders, and she issued a challenge to all other DAMA chapters to beat this number in 2008.

You can send an email with your CDMP numbers (and pictures of holders if you like!) to in4mationjunkie@gmail.com and your chapter will be highlighted in this blog.

CDMP Exams at the DAMA Conference

Exams will be proctored at the San Diego Conference from 5:00 to 6:30 pm on Tuesday, March 18th and from 4:30 to 6:00 pm on Wednesday, March 19th in the Marina 4 conference room. No reservations are necessary, just show up during these times. The exams take 90 minutes each to complete.

Data and Information Quality Exam Beta Released

The new Data and Information Quality Exam is available for beta testing at the San Diego DAMA Symposium. That means it is being offered for FREE to anyone who wants to take it during the conference. It will also be available at the summer MIT Information Quality conference and for DAMA chapters who want to proctor it through July.

Typically new exams go through a beta period to get feedback and statistics on the questions before it goes into full productions. Anyone who passes the beta exam may apply it toward the CDMP requirements by paying the exam fee later. It's a "try before you buy" opportunity for those who are willing to test the exam and provide feedback.

Status Report To DAMA Board

Pat Cupoli gave the annual ICCP status report to the DAMA Board and the Chapter President's Council. Some interesting statistics from the report:

Total Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) Exams taken in 2007 was 946, up 62% from 2007. The total Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) exams taken in 2007 was 946, up 86% since 2007. These two certifications have been available since 2004. There was a total of 319 new data certifications issued in 2007, which brings the total of certified data professionals to 761 since 2004.

There was a lot of activity in 2007!

DAMA Data Dictionary Now Available!

The Data Management Data Dictionary is now available in CD format on Amazon.com! The cost is $44.95.

Blogging from the 2008 DAMA Symposium in San Diego

The Data Management Symposium in San Diego kicks off on Sunday, March 16. The ICCP will be proctoring CDMP exams at the conference and Pat will be presenting a session on certification. This year, special ribbons will be available for CDMP holders to proudly display on their badges. For those who can't attend, I'll be blogging here with breaking news and observations from the conference, so stay tuned!

Eva Smith, ICCP Director, DAMA International

Navigating the Certification Maze

Certification can be a bit controversial. I've had people ask me if it's worth the time and money to get certified. They have heard people say that employers don't put much value on certifications because it just proves that someone can "take a test." Unfortunately there may be some truth to this statement. However, I think it's because the I.T. profession has become very confusing when it comes to credentials. Unlike more mature professions that have solidified a body of knowledge and certification standards, I.T. has become a maze of vendor and product driven certifications. Many of these are, indeed, just focused on passing exams about tools that will be outdated with the next release of software. Here's my attempt to make sense of the different types of I.T. credentials and options:

Vendor Certifications
These are the certifications that are most often advertised in publications like Certification Magazine. They are the Microsoft MSCE, Oracle Developer, and other product- specific certifications. They are primarily exam-based and there are lots of companies trying to sell their study materials to help you pass the exams. The advantages of vendor certifications are that they are well known and publicized. If you will be working with these specific products, they are worth getting. They help to keep you up-to-date on the products, and demonstrate to employers that you care about keeping your skills sharp. However, the exams can get expensive, and your skills may be outdated quickly.

Certificates of Completion and Educational Programs
Another type of certificate is one that is granted by an accredited educational institution or a training company. The rigor and value of these certifications can vary depending on the granting institution and the program. For example, a certificate of completion may be given for simply completing a week-long seminar, with no actual assessment of your skills required. These are nice, but the only value to employers is that it proves you took the time to sit in the seminar. For some employers, these aren't much more than a receipt for accounting purposes.

On the other hand, there are many accredited colleges who also grant certifications in a variety of I.T. related programs. These are typically 3 to 9 months or more to complete, and they have an instructional component with a required assessment, often given in the form of a grade or Pass/Fail option. Assessments may be exams, completion of projects, presentations or observation of work. The value to employers is a level of confidence that people who have attained these certifications have been trained and their skills assessed in a variety of different ways that are more relevant to the real-world work a person will be performing on the job. Of course, the quality of programs and assessments can vary, so it's always a good idea to research this.

Professional Certification
There is a growing interest in non-vendor specific professional certification in I.T., similar to that required by accounts (CPA) and other professions. PMI's Project Management Professional (PMP) has certainly become well known in recent years, and other professional associations have begun to create similar certifications. This is the niche that the CDMP fills for Data Management professionals, and the ICCP has been granting CCP certification to computing professionals for over 20 years. The difference between this type of certification and the others is that it is focused on providing credentials and recognition to experienced professionals. Although exams are required to demonstrate knowledge in a particular domain, a documentation of work experience and/or education are also required, along with a signed code of ethics. These kinds of certifications also require periodic recertification by documenting proof of ongoing professional development or contribution to the profession. Professional certification also helps to build a community of practice around a particular discipline, as holders take pride in understanding and contributing to the body of knowledge.

All of these types of credentials have their value in different circumstances. Earning a certificate, regardless of its type, can set a job seeker apart from others because it shows commitment to personal development and learning. As our profession becomes more mature, employers and professionals will become more informed about the types of credentials. I believe that we are moving toward a level of maturity where more emphasis will be placed on professional certification, as it provides an umbrella credential that assures an individual understands the fundamental concepts and principles needed to be successful in a constantly changing workplace.

7 New CDMP holders in Seattle!

The DAMA Puget Sound (DAMA-PS) chapter hosted a two-day CDMP review course in Seattle on November 1-2, 2007. Pat Cupoli taught the class, with Eva Smith as a "trainer in training." There were 13 people who attended the training over the two days, and seven of these attendees achieved the CDMP designation. The DAMA-PS chapter has been supportive of the CDMP, and some of its members have been very influential in promoting this certification within DAMA. This was the first review course held in Seattle. The chapter was pleased with the results, and plans to sponsor another session in May 2008, which will be taught by Eva Smith.

With a little fun mixed in...
This review session in Seattle also provided the opportunity for Pat to visit Seattle, and for three of our board members to enjoy some tourist activities together. On the Saturday after the class, Pat and Eva (with her husband, Corey) met Terry Linkletter at the Seattle waterfront and took a day cruise to Tillicum Village on Blake Island. It was a beautiful crisp sunny day, affording nice views of Puget Sound. Pat also had the opportunity to visit the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, or at least drive through it. (Terry, Pat and Eva pictured with Totem Pole at Blake Island)