Data management professionals who are committed to a career in the field and want to demonstrate their knowledge and experience in its various subject areas should earn the data management professional certification.  The designation is awarded to those who qualify based on a combination of criteria including education, experience and test-based examination of professional level knowledge.  This certification is growing as the gold standard for measuring accomplishment in the data management field.

This credential has three levels of achievement: Associate, Practitioner, and Mastery.  At the Associate level, the candidate must pass the Data Management Core examination.  For the other two levels, the candidate must pass three exams: the Data Management Core, and two specialty exams of the candidate’s choice.  Depending on the credential level, a candidate must have a minimum of 6 months experience of demonstrated data-oriented work experience (Associate level) or up to 10 years’ experience (Mastery level).  A university degree or other diploma is recommended for each stage, and some form of post-secondary education is expected for those who achieve Mastery level.

Data Management Certification Information:

  • Exams test knowledge, skills and/or abilities needed to perform data management job roles, duties and responsibilities
  • Examinations are based on material found in data management related industry texts
  • The exams given are experienced based and are challenging – not everyone passes
    • Associate Level – pass the Data Management core exam at a minimum of 60% (minimum of 6 months to 2 years’ data management work experience)
    • Practitioner Level – pass all three exams at a minimum of 70% (minimum of 3 years’ data management work experience with additional years’ experience required for no post-secondary degree)
    • Mastery Level – pass all three exams at a minimum of 80% (minimum of 10 years’ data management work experience with additional years’ experience required for no post-secondary degree), along with an additional case study in a data management domain
  • The exams are product and vendor neutral, developed by data management experts
  • Recertification is required; 120 contact hours of continuing education activity every 3 years.  A certificate is not valid if not re-certified within three (3) years of the effective date.

Data Management Certification Examinations:

  • Data Management Core Exam – required
  • Specialty Exam Choices – choose two from the following list
    • Data Warehousing
    • Business Intelligence and Analytics
    • Data & Information Quality
    • Data Development
    • Data Operations (Database Administration)
    • Enterprise Architecture Framework
    • Integrated IT Project Management
    • Data Governance

Professional Development / Recertification:

To maintain the designation, a certificate holder must earn 120 approved contact hours of continuing education over a 3-year period.  Many educational activities count, including attendance at a variety of symposia/conferences, passing additional examinations, documented self-study in appropriate topics, creating and delivering presentations, article writing on appropriate topics, etc.