Operative, the leading provider of ad operations software and services to help publishers and agencies increase profitability, today announced enhancements to its comprehensive ad management technology, Dashboard™ 2.0, at the AD:TECH Conference and Expo, held April 26-28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.  The Dashboard platform helps publishers integrate the data and processes required to effectively manage operations, from product definition through finance reconciliation.  Dashboard provides visibility and functionality into operational transactions including inventory management, financial analysis and reconciliation, and product packaging and pricing. 

"The Operative team's proven expertise in online ad operations has resulted in a workflow product that surpasses anything else on the market today," said Bill Shaw, general manager for SmartMoney.com and an Operative customer.  "Each day, their Dashboard platform gives us real-time visibility into all facets of our online business, allowing us to improve our daily efficiencies and to make real-time decisions that positively impact our bottom line."

Currently in the online advertising community, publishers are using multiple point solutions such as ad servers, rich media providers, finance systems, customer relationship management (CRM) solutions among other individual technologies to improve operations.  These point solutions provide significant value as stand-alone applications but expose gaps in communication and workflow when managing the extended enterprise.  Operative Dashboard™ spans across each of these systems by integrating both the processes and data needed for the effective management of an online advertising business.  Dashboard provides a single solution for capturing and monitoring data from disparate sources, which greatly reduces manual processes so publishers can make better business decisions with real-time information related to pricing, trafficking, order history and competitive proposals. 

"Operative Dashboard delivers operational innovation that transforms mundane processes into strategic advantage," said Michael Leo, CEO of Operative.  "By automating routine processes and freeing skilled professionals from repetitive, low-value tasks, publishers are able to focus on their core competencies, product innovation and growing their client-base.  Dashboard users experience greater agility, responsiveness and use of enterprise-wide assets, enabling them to reduce costs, dramatically improve sales and achieve greater customer satisfaction."

Additional Dashboard 2.0 enhancements include:

• Product Packaging and Pricing - The Dashboard packaging and pricing module allows users to set up products and packages with individual placements, pages or sections of various sites all rolled up into one branded product.  This allows publishers to capture and track performance data granularly while making logical product packages available to sales teams to streamline the proposal creation and approval process.
• Inventory Management - Through integration with the primary ad server, Dashboard provides real-time inventory availability, allowing sales to respond to request for proposals (RFPs) quicker and with a more accurate picture of the allotted inventory.
• Contender Snapshot - Dashboard provides the ability to quickly see proposals competing for same inventory in order to make informed business decisions related to pricing, inventory management and proposal approval.
• Network Support - Dashboard allows the mapping of multiple site pages and products from various web sites.  By grouping pages or individual placements on various Web sites into product offerings, publishers are able to sell across the network. 
• Billing and Reconciliation - Dashboard enables ad operations and finance users to easily reconcile and manage delivery discrepancies between primary ad server delivery and third-party delivery.
• Reports and Analytics - With 20 reports built-in to the analytics module, Dashboard provides reporting and increased analyses into all segments of operations business.  These reports can easily be customized to meet the needs of all publishers and networks.  
  For more information on Dashboard, please contact Operative at 212.994.8930 or sales@Operative.com.  Operative will also announce an API adapter this year that will enable the seamless integration of various external systems. 

About Operative
Operative enables interactive publishers and agencies to meet the demands of an increasingly dynamic Internet marketplace and to improve their bottom lines by providing expert management of ad operations through their industry-leading technology and truly obsessive service.  Operative's flagship subscription-based software - accessed by clients via the Operative Dashboard™, an ASP software solution - automates the entire ad operations process, from insertion order through trafficking, campaign optimization through Customer Relationship management (CRM), with sales force automation built in.  Headquartered in New York City with its international base in London and offices around the world, Operative provides a full range of outsourced ad operations to many of the world's leading media companies including AOL, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, MSN, Business Week Online, iVillage, Omnicom, and WPP.  For more information visit www.operative.com.