CDMP-2026Intermediate

CDMP exam guide

Certified Data Management Professional: the vendor-neutral data-management credential based on the DAMA-DMBOK, tested through the Data Management Fundamentals exam.

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What is the CDMP exam?

The CDMP is DAMA International's certification for data-management practitioners. It is built on the DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK, second edition), the reference framework used by data governance, data architecture and data quality teams around the world.

Every CDMP level starts with the same Data Management Fundamentals exam, which covers all of the DMBOK knowledge areas: governance, architecture, modelling, storage, security, integration, document and content management, reference and master data, warehousing and business intelligence, metadata, data quality, big data and data science, plus ethics, maturity assessment and organisational change. The exam is open book, but the time limit makes it impossible to look up more than a handful of answers.

Your score on the Fundamentals exam sets your level: Associate at 60%, Practitioner at 70% and Master at 80%. Practitioner and Master additionally require passing two specialist exams and meeting DAMA's experience requirements.

Who sits it

  • Data governance, data stewardship and data quality professionals
  • Data architects, modellers and warehouse or BI specialists
  • Analysts, engineers and managers moving into data-management leadership
  • Consultants who need a recognised, vendor-neutral data credential

Exam format at a glance

Questions
100 multiple-choice
Duration
90 minutes (110 with the extra time available to non-native English speakers)
Delivery
Online, available year-round
Open book
Yes; the printed DMBOK2 is permitted
Fee (USD)
About $311 per attempt, which includes a practice exam
Passing standard
60% for Associate, 70% for Practitioner, 80% for Master
Pass rate
DAMA does not publish one
Prerequisites
None for the exam; Practitioner and Master levels add two specialist exams and experience requirements

Exam-body facts last checked September 2026. Fees, dates and formats change; confirm the current details with DAMA International before registering.

Syllabus and topic weights

Weights as published by DAMA for the Fundamentals exam. Our remaining topics (maturity assessment, organisation and roles, and change management) are examined within them.

  • 1.Data Management2% · 17 lessons · 0 questions · 72 cards
    1. Data, Information, and Data as an Organizational Asset
    2. Data Management Principles
    3. Data Management Challenges
    4. Data Management Strategy
    5. Data Management Frameworks
    6. DAMA and the DMBOK: The Knowledge Area Wheel
  • 2.Data Handling Ethics2% · 13 lessons · 0 questions · 67 cards
    1. Ethical Principles for Data and Data Privacy Law
    2. Online Data in an Ethical Context
    3. Risks of Unethical Data Handling Practices
    4. Establishing an Ethical Data Culture
    5. Data Ethics and Governance
  • 3.Data Governance11% · 35 lessons · 0 questions · 216 cards
    1. Data Governance Organization and the Data-Centric Organization
    2. Data Governance Operating Models
    3. Data Stewardship
    4. Data Policies
    5. Data Asset Valuation
    6. Define Data Governance and Perform Readiness Assessment
    7. Discovery, Business Alignment, and Organizational Touch Points
    8. Develop Data Governance Strategy and Operating Framework
    9. Develop Goals, Principles, and Policies
    10. Underwrite Data Management Projects and Engage Change Management
    11. Issue Management and Regulatory Compliance
    12. Implement Data Governance and Sponsor Standards and Procedures
    13. Develop a Business Glossary and Coordinate with Architecture Groups
    14. Sponsor Data Asset Valuation and Embed Data Governance
  • 4.Data Architecture6% · 11 lessons · 0 questions · 58 cards
    1. Enterprise Architecture Domains and Frameworks
    2. Enterprise Data Architecture
    3. Establish Data Architecture Practice
    4. Integrate with Enterprise Architecture
  • 5.Data Modeling and Design11% · 24 lessons · 0 questions · 172 cards
    1. Data Modeling and Types of Data Modeled
    2. Data Model Components
    3. Data Modeling Schemes
    4. Data Model Levels of Detail
    5. Normalization and Abstraction
    6. Plan for Data Modeling
    7. Build the Data Model: Forward and Reverse Engineering
    8. Review and Maintain the Data Models
    9. Data Model Governance and Design Best Practices
  • 6.Data Storage and Operations6% · 25 lessons · 0 questions · 162 cards
    1. Database Terms and Data Lifecycle Management
    2. Database Administrator Roles
    3. Database Architecture and Processing Types
    4. Data Storage Media and Database Environments
    5. Database Organization and Common Database Processes
    6. Manage Database Technology
    7. Manage Databases: Requirements and Business Continuity
    8. Develop Database Instances and Manage Performance
    9. Manage Test Data Sets and Data Migration
  • 7.Data Security6% · 28 lessons · 0 questions · 148 cards
    1. Vulnerability, Threat, and Risk
    2. Data Security Organization and Security Processes
    3. Data Integrity, Encryption, and Obfuscation
    4. Network Security Terms
    5. Types of Data Security and Security Restrictions
    6. System Security Risks, Hacking, and Social Engineering
    7. Malware
    8. Identify Data Security Requirements and Define Security Policy
    9. Define Data Security Standards
    10. Assess Security Risks and Implement Controls
  • 8.Data Integration and Interoperability6% · 23 lessons · 0 questions · 105 cards
    1. ETL, Latency, Replication, and Archiving
    2. Interaction Models and Canonical Message Format
    3. Data Integration and Interoperability Architecture Concepts
    4. Data Exchange Standards
    5. Plan and Analyze Data Integration
    6. Design Data Integration Solutions
    7. Develop Data Integration Solutions
    8. Implement, Monitor, and Govern Data Integration
  • 9.Document and Content Management6% · 21 lessons · 0 questions · 95 cards
    1. Content Management Concepts
    2. Controlled Vocabularies
    3. Documents and Records Management
    4. Information Architecture, Search, and Semantic Concepts
    5. Unstructured Data and Workflow
    6. Plan for Lifecycle Management
    7. Manage the Content Lifecycle
    8. Publish and Deliver Content
  • 10.Reference and Master Data10% · 16 lessons · 0 questions · 63 cards
    1. Master vs. Reference Data: Key Distinctions
    2. Reference Data Types and Structure
    3. Master Data Types and MDM Concepts
    4. Data Sharing Architecture
    5. Master Data Management Activities
    6. Reference Data Activities
  • 11.Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence10% · 17 lessons · 0 questions · 69 cards
    1. Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Concepts
    2. Approaches to Data Warehousing: Inmon vs. Kimball
    3. DW Architecture Components and Load Processing Types
    4. Understand Requirements and Define the DW/BI Architecture
    5. Develop and Populate the Data Warehouse
    6. Implement the BI Portfolio and Maintain Data Products
  • 12.Metadata Management11% · 18 lessons · 0 questions · 126 cards
    1. Metadata vs. Data and Types of Metadata
    2. ISO/IEC 11179 and Metadata for Unstructured Data
    3. Sources of Metadata
    4. Types of Metadata Architecture
    5. Define Metadata Strategy and Understand Requirements
    6. Define Metadata Architecture
    7. Create, Maintain, Query, and Analyze Metadata
  • 13.Data Quality11% · 25 lessons · 0 questions · 164 cards
    1. Data Quality Concepts and Critical Data
    2. Data Quality Dimensions
    3. Data Quality Improvement Lifecycle and Business Rule Types
    4. Common Causes of Data Quality Issues
    5. Data Profiling and Data Quality Processing
    6. Define High Quality Data and a Data Quality Strategy
    7. Identify Critical Data and Perform Initial Assessment
    8. Identify Improvements and Define Data Quality Goals
    9. Develop and Deploy Data Quality Operations
  • 14.Big Data and Data Science2% · 26 lessons · 0 questions · 129 cards
    1. Data Science and the Data Science Process
    2. Big Data Concepts and Architecture Components
    3. Data Lake and Services-Based Architecture
    4. Machine Learning and Analytics Types
    5. Data Visualization and Mashups
    6. Define Big Data Strategy and Choose Data Sources
    7. Acquire, Ingest, and Develop Data Hypotheses
    8. Integrate Data and Explore Using Models
    9. Deploy, Monitor, and Govern
  • 15.Data Management Maturity Assessment12 lessons · 0 questions · 60 cards
    1. Assessment Levels, Criteria, and Existing DMMA Frameworks
    2. Plan Assessment Activities
    3. Perform Maturity Assessment and Interpret Results
    4. Create an Improvement Program and Re-assess Maturity
  • 16.Data Management Organization and Role Expectations14 lessons · 0 questions · 83 cards
    1. Data Management Organizational Constructs
    2. Critical Success Factors for the Data Management Organization
    3. Build the Data Management Organization: Stakeholders
    4. Interactions Between the DMO and Other Data-Oriented Bodies
    5. Data Management Roles
  • 17.Data Management and Organizational Change Management17 lessons · 0 questions · 101 cards
    1. Laws of Change and Managing a Transition
    2. Kotter's Eight Errors of Change Management
    3. Kotter's Eight-Stage Process for Major Change
    4. The Formula for Change and Diffusion of Innovations
    5. Sustaining Change
    6. Communicating Data Management Value

Lesson, question and flashcard counts are StudyOptima's published content for each topic. Expand a topic to see its subtopics.

How to prepare for CDMP

  1. 1

    The six 10–11% areas (governance, quality, modelling, metadata, master and reference data, and warehousing and BI) are 64% of the exam. Cover them thoroughly first.

  2. 2

    Learn the DMBOK's own definitions and diagrams. Questions frequently ask which activity, deliverable or role belongs to which knowledge area, exactly as the book lays them out.

  3. 3

    Do not rely on the open-book rule. Fifty-four seconds per question leaves no time to search a 600-page book; use it only to confirm one or two answers you have flagged.

  4. 4

    Practise with the DAMA practice exam and with timed 100-question sets, and review the knowledge-area context diagrams before the exam.

  5. 5

    Decide your target level in advance. Aiming for Practitioner (70%) changes how much detail you need in the smaller knowledge areas.

Study for CDMP on StudyOptima

342 study lessons

Condensed notes for every topic, organised by learning objective, with read-progress tracking.

2,098 practice questions

Exam-style questions with worked explanations, timed mocks, and re-drills of what you got wrong.

1,890 flashcards

Spaced-repetition review of the definitions and formulas the exam keeps coming back to.

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CDMP FAQ

Which edition of the DMBOK is the exam based on?

DMBOK2, the second edition. A revised second edition was published in 2024 with the same knowledge-area structure, and DAMA permits either printed copy in the exam.

Do I need to pass more than one exam?

Associate level needs only the Data Management Fundamentals exam. Practitioner and Master levels require two additional specialist exams chosen from DAMA's list, plus the relevant experience.

Can I retake the exam if I miss my target level?

Yes. Each attempt is paid separately, and your highest passing score determines your level.

What does StudyOptima offer for CDMP?

Study notes for all 17 DMBOK knowledge areas across 125 subtopics, flashcards, and a bank of more than 2,000 practice questions with explanations, with the first lessons of the core topics free.

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