Data Management Maturity (DMM) Model Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining key processes, categories, and terminology from the CMMI Data Management Maturity (DMM) Model.

Data Management Maturity (DMM) Model

A comprehensive reference model for state-of-the-practice process improvement that defines fundamental business processes of data management and specific capabilities constituting a gradated path to maturity.

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)

A capability improvement framework developed by the CMMI Institute that guides organizations in high-performance operations and serves as a proven approach to performance improvement.

Capability Level

A measurement of functional capabilities within a process area based on the performance of functional practices across levels ranging from Level 1 (Performed) to Level 5 (Optimized).

Maturity Measurement

A measurement requiring that all evaluated process areas are performed at the same level in both functional capability practices and infrastructure support practices.

Data Management Strategy

A process area defining the vision, goals, priorities, and roadmap for a multi-year data management program aligned with organizational strategy and approved by stakeholders.

Promulgation

The act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative policy, standard, or process after its enactment.

Data Management Function

A function providing leadership, oversight, resourcing, and role definitions for data management staff to ensure corporate data is managed as a critical asset.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

A financial analysis method used to discover and analyze cradle-to-grave tangible and intangible costs of a program, product, or project over its complete lifecycle.

Program Funding

The processes that define investment criteria, priority frameworks, expenditure management, and cost allocation methods to ensure sustainable financing for data management.

Governance Management

The ownership, stewardship, and operational structure established to ensure corporate data assets are managed, controlled, and supported collaboratively across business and IT.

Business Glossary

An approved, governed compendium of business term names and unique definitions that supports a common understanding of structured and unstructured data across the organization.

Metadata

A category of information that identifies, describes, explains, and provides content, context, structure, and classifications pertaining to an organization's data assets.

Business Metadata

Descriptive metadata used to search, locate, and understand content, including terms, definitions, business rules, publishers, and subject area domains.

Technical Metadata

Metadata describing physical data layer instantiations and automated transformations, including database tables, field structures, data types, DDL, and ETL scripts.

Operational Metadata

Administrative metadata used to manage data assets, including creation dates, file types, access rights, entitlement restrictions, and stewardship roles.

Data Quality Strategy

An integrated plan that defines goals, objectives, criteria, and standard quality dimensions to achieve and maintain data integrity to support business goals.

Data Profiling

A discovery task examining stored database values, ranges, distributions, and formats to reveal how physical values differ from expected metadata or business rules.

Data Quality Assessment

A systematic process that measures and evaluates data quality for critical data attributes against predefined quality rules, targets, and thresholds.

Data Cleansing

The mechanisms, rules, and methods used to validate, correct, and remediate data defects or duplicate records according to predefined business rules.

Data Requirements Definition

The process used to identify, precisely define, prioritize, document, and validate the data needed by business processes to achieve business objectives.

Data Lifecycle Management

The practice of mapping, inventorying, and controlling data flows through business processes across all lifecycle stages from creation or acquisition to retirement.

Provider Management

Practices performed to define data sourcing requirements, acquire data, manage service level agreements, and interact with internal and external data providers.

Authoritative Source

An official source of information, including a system of record or trusted source, designated as the best or official source for a specific data set.

Architectural Approach

The methodology for designing and implementing an optimal data layer that enables the acquisition, production, storage, and delivery of consumable data.

Architectural Standards

An approved set of expectations governing architectural elements for data representation, data access methods, and data distribution rules.

Data Management Platform

The overall technological ecosystem managed under common authority that serves as an authoritative source for data distribution, transformation, and integration.

Data Integration

The transport and processing (such as connecting, combining, and de-duplicating) of data from multiple sources into a destination environment.

Historical Data, Retention and Archiving

Practices ensuring data maintenance satisfies organizational, legal, and regulatory requirements for versioning, data retention periods, state restoration, and archiving.

Measurement and Analysis

A supporting process area that develops and sustains measurement capabilities and analytical techniques to evaluate and align data management performance with business objectives.

Process Management

A supporting process area that establishes and maintains standard process assets, process asset libraries, and plans for organizational process improvements.

Process Quality Assurance

A supporting process area providing staff and management with objective insight into process execution and work products through evaluations against standard procedures.

Risk Management

A continuous process that identifies, analyzes, categorizes, and monitors potential problems to establish risk mitigation and contingency plans.

Configuration Management

A discipline to establish and maintain the integrity of products, data stores, operational environments, and interfaces using configuration control, accounting, and audits.

Infrastructure Support Practices (ISPs)

Model components adapted from core CMMI practices that provide support activities (such as policy, planning, resourcing, and training) required for every process area across maturity levels.