Press Release

EDGE Evolve gains first two Certified Data Management Professionals in Southern Africa

September 09, 2010 | Woodmead, Sandton | Print

DataAssist’s Spatial Module makes representation of data visual with maps and charts

EDGE Evolve is proud to announce their Data Management team has once again excelled and that two of the team returned from DAMA International’s annual conference (EDW 2010) with CDMP’s. Ana Moreira and Sue Geuens have officially become the first two people in Southern Africa to qualify for this exclusive and prestigious internationally recognised certification.

DAMA (Data Management Association) International has been in existence for at least 30 years and currently has over 50 chapters worldwide. DAMA SA – the Southern African affiliate was inaugurated at an EDGE Evolve sponsored event on 19th February 2009. More than 150 data management professionals from all over Southern Africa attended the inaugural event at which current DAMA I president, Dr Peter Aiken, gave an impressive keynote speech.

EDGE Evolve has been aware of and actively involved in data management exercises, projects and programmes for many years but the advent of DAMA SA in Southern Africa has proven to be such a huge impetus to the market that EDGE Evolve moved to the next level. Not only has EDGE Evolve had the services of both Ana and Sue for a number of years, but they became the driving force behind EDGE Evolve becoming involved with, a corporate member of and an active sponsor of DAMA SA and their regular events. EDGE Evolve CEO, Manny Moreira took up the challenge posed by his 2 data management ladies and decided to host not only the first event but subsequent chapter events as well as becoming one of the first vendors booked at DAMA SA’s highly successful Vendor Expo Day in April 2010.

This involvement and commitment led EDGE Evolve to examine all possible avenues of data management education for their staff and specifically the data management team. DAMA International’s Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK) and the CDMP proved to be the premier tools and certification offered internationally.

DAMA International and the ICCP (Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals) have been offering the CDMP program since 1993. Although the CDMP consists of only 3 exams, of which two are mandatory, the certification is extremely strenuous and a data management professional is required to be able to prove education in the form of degrees and/or diplomas with subjects relating to data management as well as experience and expertise in a data management role. Over time this certification has changed and grown and currently the DMBOK has become the main source of information for the Data Management examination and the electives. At present the CDMP is accepted as a precursor to a PhD at universities in the US.

Once again, EDGE Evolve took up this challenge. Both Ana and Sue had the necessary experience, education and training. All that was required was a trip to the EDW conference in San Francisco during March 2010 to take the exams that are offered at every conference. With the advent of new “beta” exams Ana and Sue rose to the occasion and sat not only the 3 required, but wrote extra exams to enable the ICCP to confirm these beta exams.

On their return to SA with the CDMP in their pockets, the next step for both DAMA SA and the two newly certified ladies was to undertake a “train the trainer” course with the ICCP to enable them to train others for the CDMP exams and to allow DAMA SA to offer proctoring of the computer based testing examinations.

The CDMP mandatory exams are the Information Systems Core and the Data Management Core. These two exams form the foundation of knowledge for any data management professional. The elective exams are offered based on the DMBOK chapters and include Data Governance, Data Development, BI and Data Warehousing, Data Quality and a number of others.

Due to the multi-pronged approach required to certify, CDMP’s greatly extend an organisation’s offering to their clients. Not only are they proficient through previous education and experience, they have also been exposed to the best practices of all aspects of data management through the DMBOK.

EDGE Evolve has designed and developed their EDGE³ Data Management Framework directly as a result of their involvement with DAMA SA, CDMP’s qualifications and exposure to and understanding of the DMBOK. The EDGE³ framework maps between a client’s requirements (projects and programmes) to the DMBOK and the pillars of data management – governance, people, architecture and quality.

For the future, EDGE Evolve intends to grow more data management professionals into becoming CDMP’s, to design and develop ICCP certified CDMP/ DMBOK training courses and to become the foremost Data Management expert consultancy in Southern Africa.

About Edge Evolve:

Edge Evolve is a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) software. It provides and manages ICT solutions that help clients achieve their business goals. Evolve strives for excellence, value and innovation in service and product delivery to their clients. Edge has distinguished itself as a worthy partner with the prerequisite industry-specific expertise and experience supplying a variety of services to customers. It provides services in three verticals, namely Business Consulting Services, IT Consulting & Integration Services and Software Integration.

To receive more information regarding DataAssist and other successful implementations, e-mail info@EdgeEvolve.com or visit the Edge Evolve website at www.EdgeEvolve.com

EDGE Evolve (Pty) Ltd.

2nd Floor, Uplands 14
The Woodlands Office Park
Woodmead, Sandton
T: (+27 11) 802 0919
E: info@edgeevolve.com
W: www.edgeevolve.com