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A professional-level summary covering key definitions, frameworks, and exam-relevant points.
DMBOK v2 Knowledge Areas and Exam Weights
| # | Knowledge Area | Approx. CDMP Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data Governance | 11% |
| 2 | Data Architecture | 6% |
| 3 | Data Modelling and Design | 11% |
| 4 | Data Storage and Operations | 6% |
| 5 | Data Security | 6% |
| 6 | Data Integration and Interoperability | 6% |
| 7 | Documents and Content | 6% |
| 8 | Reference and Master Data | 10% |
| 9 | Data Warehousing and BI | 10% |
| 10 | Metadata Management | 11% |
| 11 | Data Quality | 11% |
The DMBOK Wheel
The DMBOK represents its knowledge areas as a wheel, with Data Governance at the hub and the other 10 areas as spokes. This architecture reinforces the principle that governance provides direction, oversight, and coordination to all other data management functions. No spoke operates independently of the hub.
Key Distinctions for the CDMP Exam
Candidates frequently confuse adjacent knowledge areas. The most common confusions are: Data Architecture vs Data Modelling (architecture is the high-level blueprint; modelling is the detailed design), Reference Data vs Master Data (reference data is lookup tables; master data is shared business entities), and Metadata Management vs Data Governance (metadata management maintains information about data; governance sets the authority and accountability for that information).