Sitecore CDP & Personalize Learning Resources

I recently went through the certification process for Sitecore CDP & Sitecore Personalize. I did not enrol instructor-led training session but instead just plowed through all available material online. In this post I'm simple going to loosely organize and share all of the resources that I found helpful.

What is Sitecore CDP?

CDP stands for Customer Data Platform. It's a SaaS-based true centralized store for customer information. It's a little different than a CRM because it's a platform built for action that gathers information at the micro (searches, page views, add to cart) and macro (purchases, goals) level.

What is Sitecore Personalize?

Sitecore Personalize leverages the data captured by CDP to deliver targeted experiments and experiences to users.

Are CDP and Personalize two separate products?

That's a good question. There is a distinction between them but they are integrated and accessed from within the same platform / interface. I log into one place and access both seamlessly. They were once positioned as single platform (known then as Boxever, acquired by Sitecore) but have since been segmented to maximize their audience. There is a use case for CDP without Personalize but I'd expect they're used together 99.99% of the time.

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Sitecore CDP Sample Code Repositories

• https://github.com/boxever/configurations - A nice collection of sample code web experiences, audience filters, decision model.
• https://github.com/neilkillen/SitecoreCDPPostmanCollection - What a legend. Neil Killen has put together a Postman collection to send API calls to Sitecore CDP. Will likely win a Nobel prize for this.
• https://github.com/soreilly6/TechnicalTrainingCourse - This is the source code for SpinBurger demo site from the Technical Deep Dive training as referenced by Sarah O'Reily.

CDP & Personalize Mind Map

Kiran Patils has created a very useful mind map to help tie the concepts together. When you're learning there are concepts that are similar but different and this will help keep you sorted.

Official Sitecore Documentation

• CDP Knowledge Hub [sitecore.cdpknowledgehub.com] - This is a great resources that is well organized and provides us with many best practices and functional howtos. However, it doesn't differentiate between CDP and Personalize it generally uses CDP as the term for both (which I think is acceptable).
• Study Guide [learning.sitecore.com] - Once you've register to take your exam you can access a study guide through the Sitecore learning portal, allegedly.
• Sitecore CDP & Personalize Documentation [doc.sitecore.com] - A dashboard that links to various documentation but does not link to the above. Still a great bookmark.
• Sitecore Personalize Introduction (End User / Non-Technical) [doc.sitecore.com] - Documentation for marketers or analysts using Personalize. Relatively high-level, administrative.
• Sitecore CDP Introduction (End User / Non-Technical) [doc.sitecore.com] - Documentation for marketers or analysts using CDP. Relatively high-level, administrative.
• Stream API [doc.sitecore.com] - Used to custom customer interactions and events into CDP in real-time. This data can then be used to create real-time segments that drive personalized experiences and experiments (among other things).
• REST API [doc.sitecore.com] - Used for advanced data management and customization within CDP. It would also be used to extend CDP into other platforms. Expect to use a lot of Postman.
• Batch API [doc.sitecore.com] - Used to import customer information from 3rd party systems into CDP.

Stack Overflow

Within Sitecore Stack Overflow there are a few tags created specifically for CDP and Personalize that are promoted during the training. Sitecore has even asked and answered some common questions here to get the ball rolling.

• Tag: CDP
• Tag: Personalization
• Tag: Sitecore Personalize

Sitecore Provided Learning / Courses

There are also resources made available through Sitecore's learning portal for Sitecore partners. I'm not a customer or affiliate so I can't speak for their availability for people in those roles. The way the portal is built, I cannot link to them directly but I'll list the available offerings below.

• Boxever Training - Product Solution
• Sitecore CDP Business User & Project Manager – Collection
• Sitecore CDP & Personalize Technical Deep Dive – Collection
• Sitecore CDP and Sitecore Personalize –Sales Fundamentals – Collection
• Sitecore CDP and Personalize Certification Exam – Certification

CDP and Personalize Sandbox

To learn about CDP and Personalize, you really need access to it. Nothing can replace hands-on learning. Reach out to your local Sitecore partner or alliance manager and ask for access to a sandbox. There are no free trials or self-service

The Certification Exam

The certification exam is proctored through Web Assessor. In the Sitecore partner portal there was a discount code available at the time of this post. The exam was 30 questions, multiple choice, 60 minute time limit. I suspect the exam is much easier if you've taken the instructor-led course.

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Thanks for reading. I hope you found this post useful. Sitecore CDP & Personalize do seem like great tools and a significant change of pace for the traditional Sitecore XP stack. If you find any additional resources that I should add please find me online I'll do my best to keep this updated.