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What certification will help me develop a profession in data mining?

Q: I am a Windows developer and am interested in data mining. What certification will help me? Should I go for a DBA first and then after spending some time working as a DBA, go for a mining or warehousing certification? Please provide information regarding certifications and any other details you feel would be useful.

Sid Adelman's Answer:

I'd start out learning about data warehousing, especially the analytical side and in the meantime learn all you can about data mining. Try finding a position in your organization where they are mining the data - experience is much more of a hiring determinant than any certification. Despite what the vendors say, real data mining requires an in-depth understanding of the data and a good understanding of statistics.

Clay Rehm's Answer:

What is there about data mining that interests you? There must be in interest in data that would provoke such a thought. In that case, I would consider learning about data modeling and data architecture before I jumped into learning about database administration (DBA).

I believe in certifications and you can obtain your Certified Computing Professional (CCP) certification at the same time you are learning about data modeling. Please refer to the www.iccp.org Web site for more information on that. In addition, there are many data modeling training sessions and classes held by colleges and other vendors. I would also recommend to learn "operational" data modeling first, then learn "data warehouse" data modeling. Keep an open mind in both!

A DBA certification is well worth the effort - the trick is to decide what platform. The major players are IBM, Oracle and Microsoft. What platform or technology are you going to spend most of your time on? Figure that out and pursue the certification.


Sid Adelman is a principal in Sid Adelman & Associates, an organization specializing in planning and implementing data warehouses, in data warehouse and BI assessments, and in establishing effective data architectures and strategies. He is a regular speaker at DW conferences. Adelman chairs the "Ask the Experts" column on www.dmreview.com. He is a frequent contributor to journals that focus on data warehousing. He co-authored Data Warehouse Project Management and is the principal author on Impossible Data Warehouse Situations with Solutions from the Experts and Data Strategy. He can be reached at (818) 783-9634 or visit his Web site at www.sidadelman.com.

Clay Rehm, CCP, PMP, is president of Rehm Technology (www.rehmtech.com), a consulting firm specializing in data integration solutions. Rehm provides hands-on expertise in project management, assessments, methodologies, data modeling, database design, metadata and systems analysis, design and development. He has worked in multiple platforms and his experience spans operational and data warehouse environments. Rehm is a technical book editor and is a co-author of the book, Impossible Data Warehouse Situations with Solutions from the Experts. In addition, he is a Certified Computing Professional (CCP), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and a Masters Degree in Software Engineering from Carroll College. He can be reached at clay.rehm@rehmtech.com.

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