What is the Canonical Data Model (CDM)?
The Canonical Data Model (CDM) is a unified, subject-area-agnostic data structure that serves as the authoritative reference framework for all data flowing through the Customer Data Platform. It provides standardized definitions, structures, and naming conventions for core business entities that evolve across different subject areas such as Party, Account, Product, Contact, Device, Campaign, Segment, and Transaction.
The CDM is NOT a physical schema by itself. Rather, it is a conceptual and logical blueprint that guides the design and development of the actual physical data models—specifically, the Raw Data Vault (RDV) layer. The RDV implements the CDM for each subject area using Data Vault 2.0 principles (Hubs, Links, Satellites, Link-Satellites ), while the Metadata Model captures the structural and operational metadata required for metadata-driven automation, lineage tracking, and audit compliance.
- Customer 360
- Campaign 360
Subject Areas in Roadmap for Future Delivery by Canonical Data model:
- Offer 360
- Segment 360
- Deliver 360
- Journey 360
- Interact 360
Key Characteristics of the Canonical Model:
- Subject-area centric and evolvable: Organized around core business entities and continuously evolving for different subject areas (Party, Account, Product, Campaign, Segment, etc.)
- Reusable and extensible: Provides a common vocabulary that can be extended for future subject areas without disrupting existing implementations