DAMA-DMBOK: Data Management Body of Knowledge: 2nd Edition

For the aspiring Data Management Professional, or indeed for anyone involved in framing or executing a data project, DAMA International (dama.org) and this book the “Data Management Body of Knowledge v2” is an excellent starting point. It lays out 10 Knowledge areas all linked by a central theme of Data Governance that offer a broader context in which to think about your change.Those elements are:• Data Architecture• Data Modeling and Design• Data Storage & Operations• Data Security• Data Integration & Interoperability• Document & Content Management• Reference & Master data• Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence• Metadata• Data QualityEach chapter has a standard layout with the following sections:• Introduction• Activities• Tools• Techniques• Implementation Guidelines• Governance approach• Recommended ReadingThere is always a challenge in this kind of framework between outlining ‘what to do’ but stopping short of the voluminous, technical and perhaps constantly changing content of ‘how to do it’. Many frameworks do not set out to address the latter. This book does delve into a number of detailed approaches which I think is useful to the reader who wants as much as possible in one place. However this adds to the challenge of the less technical audience so if you are in the second group then some judicious skimming might be in order.Equally, if your project if of a particular type, then you might be able to dispense with one or two other chapters…for example if you have a Metadata project then perhaps the DW&BI chapter is superfluous. That said I would certainly recommend a look at general issues like Data Architecture and Data Quality just to ensure you are not missing anything.Overall I found the quality and consistency of the content pretty high..there are one or two quibbles in a couple of other reviews but not material to my mind.The areas I did find worthy of comment were as follows:I say 10 Knowledge Areas because that is how many elements there are on the ‘Wheel’ infographic, but in fact they are additional chapters:• Data Handling Ethics• Big Data and Data Science• Data Management Maturity Assessment• Data Management Organisation and Role Expectations• Data Management and Organization Change ManagementNo explanation is given as to why these elements don’t make it onto the ‘Wheel’ graphic. Perhaps the last 3 could be classified as project hygiene but Big Data is every bit a part of the current data conversation as BI, and I get the feeling Data Ethics will be front and centre of many projects in the coming years.Second, and inevitably, DAMA and the book reinforce the need for a Chief Data Officer, just as every other organisation claim the need for CxO. This is good news for office furniture makers as the market for boardroom chairs expands, but the fragmentation of CIO/CTO/CISO/CDO/etc is potentially very confusing. People just end up looking at one another whilst the ball rolls off under the sofa. I would focus on the tasks, and simply engaging with the business, rather than hiring a new senior tourist of a manager.Finally, I like the Data Management Principles, and the attempt to structure a sensible conversation around vacuous ‘value of data’ or ‘data is the new oil’ statements. (Do you mean buried in the ground and covered by anti-fracking laws?). However, I find it a little curious that the opening reference (page 17) quotes a piece of research from Evans and Price back in 2012: “Few organisations actively manage data as an asset from which they can derive ongoing value”. That may have been true then and may still be true now…but surely there has been a lot of work done both by organisations and academics since 2012, not least by Evans and Price themselves. I would have thought a more up to date, more authoritative piece of follow up research could have been the opening paragraph, if only to highlight the work DAMA have done and the work that still needs to be done.Last quibble…I couldn’t find a Kindle version which is anathema to me now. The hard copy is £50 but there is a free trial on O’Reilly that the casual browser might look at first.The quibbles are minor…overall a very useful resource - well done all contributors.

Firstly, you can buy this book digitally from Dama for $50 and this paperback is just for those that want a paper reference copy or prefer to sit the open book exams with a paper copy.An intimidating tome but enjoyable to read and obviously comes from significant amounts of high value first hand experience. If you have a qualification in CS or IT and want a sort of refresher on technical enterprise data concepts then this is perfect for that.Never goes into too much depth for both abstract and technical concepts, it's a guide on how to think and constantly references technical and abstract concepts where I'd say the expectation is that you then seek further reading for full understanding.I'm not sure that the qualification is widely recognised but I think the knowledge within the qualification is quite valuable.

Great reference book

The book is printed in black and white so an electronic copy would be better when viewing the coloured diagrams.Also there are printing smudges on the diagrams.

This is an excellent, authoritative publication on Data Management and I would strongly recommend it.I ordered a printed copy from Wordery which is in black and white (this doesn't work for a lot of the illutsrations in the book) and suffers from poor quality printing. The biggest issue with the print quality is the smudged, shadow effect on many of the pages. I've now bought the electronic version.

The best book to know about Data Management.

Excellent review of key topics, well laid out and easy to understand.

Ludicrously good. An overview of pretty much everything data management that you could use.