Martech, explained · CDP architectures · 2:52
CDP architectures, explained
Packaged, composable, dual zone and agentic, and who holds each job
The short answer
There are four common CDP architectures, and they differ in who holds the four jobs every CDP does: collect, unify, segment and activate. In a packaged CDP the vendor holds them. In a composable CDP your data team does. Dual zone, based on David Chan's model, splits them by speed. Agentic hands the operating to agents.
Questions this answers
What are the four jobs of a CDP?
Collect your data, unify it into one customer, segment it, and activate those segments in your channels. Every architecture does all four; they differ in who holds each one.
What is the difference between a packaged and a composable CDP?
In a packaged CDP the vendor holds all four jobs in one product, and data moves in the moment. In a composable CDP the jobs are separate tools around your warehouse, your data team holds the wiring, and segments usually reach your channels in minutes to hours.
Is dual zone a kind of CDP?
No. It is an architecture, based on David Chan's Dual Zone model: a data zone that does the heavy work on warehouse time, and an engagement zone that answers in the moment.
What makes a CDP agentic?
Who operates it. Agents do the work toward a goal you set, actions that matter wait at a sign-off gate, and you check the work.
Transcript
Every chapter as text. Click a time to play the film from there.
0:00 Intro
Packaged, composable, dual zone, agentic. Could you tell them apart in one sentence?
0:10 How to read the diagrams
By the end of this video, you will. But first, how to read the diagrams.
Each box is a tool, or a job inside one. The name says what it does.
Each line between two boxes is an integration: the data moving from one tool to the next.
The dots are that data. How fast they move tells you how fast the integration runs: in the moment, in minutes, in hours, or once a day.
And the bar on top of each box tells you who holds it: the vendor, your data team, marketing, an AI agent, or you.
0:48 The four jobs of a CDP
Underneath, every CDP does four jobs. It collects your data, unifies it into one customer, segments it into audiences, and activates them in your channels.
1:01 Packaged CDP
In a packaged CDP, the vendor holds all four, in one box you buy whole.
Data moves through it in the moment, and marketing can build an audience without an engineer. The data and the rules live in the vendor's store, which makes it fast to start and harder to leave.
1:21 Composable CDP
Composable splits them into tools around your warehouse, and your data team holds the wiring.
Your warehouse becomes the hub. You choose each tool and own the data, and audiences usually reach your channels in minutes to hours, rather than in the moment.
1:40 Dual zone (David Chan)
Dual zone isn't a product you buy. It's an architecture, based on David Chan's Dual Zone model. It does the heavy work on warehouse time, and answers in the moment.
Zone one, the data zone, handles identity, history and scoring. Zone two, the engagement zone, decides in the moment, using what zone one handed over. That handover is the seam to watch.
2:06 Agentic CDP
Agentic changes who operates the CDP. Agents do the work, toward a goal you set.
A good goal has an outcome, a measure, a deadline… and a limit. Actions that matter wait at a sign-off gate, and you check the work.
2:25 Recap
So. Packaged: the vendor holds the jobs. Composable: your data team does. Dual zone splits them by speed. And agentic hands the operating to agents.
2:38 Learn more
Learn more about each one at Martech Stack Builder, or build your own stack there, for free.
Four jobs, four ways to split them. Now you can tell them apart.
Read more
The articles this film is drawn from.