A report by the research and advisory firm Financial Insights says information technology has become more important in helping to drive the efficiency and profitability of the Asian private banking sector.

The report entitled, "Private Banking: Volume 2 - Software Solution Vendor Analysis", outlines private banking software solutions requirements by the Asian market, and presents a snapshot of the prominent private banking solution vendors in Asia.

It also discusses the IT selection criteria that private banks use to find the most suitable firms to deal with.

"With the competitive changing panorama for private banks, it has become increasingly crucial that these institutions boast a stellar supporting technology backbone," said Li-May Chew, senior research manager for Financial Insights Asia/Pacific Financial Advisory Service.

The report said the key vendors it examined include ERI, Odyssey Financial Technologies, SS&C Technologies, SunGard, and Temenos.

Financial Insights said choosing IT goes beyond merely buying packaged software with a fixed set of functions. Banks should take several factors into consideration: vendor offerings should fit their commercial strategies and banks must consider the vendors' current and future fit with their existing platform and operating system.