Discombe has been a non-executive director of the company for the past three years.

Discombe brings extensive experience supporting global technology businesses and will help the board and management team, under chief executive officer Laurence Walker, to continue driving the global growth of SSP.

His appointment follows a transformation programme that re-positions the business in the wake of eight acquisitions. During the last three years SSP has invested in bringing new products to market, developing its secure private cloud and overhauling its service offerings. The business has continued to build on its footprint in Africa and Asia-Pacific, markets where there continues to be significant growth potential for the company.

Commenting on the appointment, Laurence Walker, chief executive officer of SSP said: "The board and I are delighted that Nick has agreed to step up to the non-executive chairman role. His extensive experience in the IT sector means he is ideally qualified to assist the business through the next phase of its development. The demand for our solutions continues to be strong, particularly in our international markets where insurers continue to be constrained by multiple legacy systems which will need to be replaced. Nick's experience will ensure we capitalise on these opportunities and continue to deliver a market beating combination of innovation and service for our customers."

"SSP is a great business, with world-class insurance technology," said Nick Discombe. "We've made excellent progress in transforming the business and our continued focus on creating success for our customers has put us in a very strong position. We have a talented and experienced management team in place and I'm looking forward to helping them realise the tremendous potential the company has."

Nick Discombe joined the SSP board early in 2009 and was previously CEO of US based Witness Systems (NASDAQ - WITS) where he led its cats cash sale for approximately $1bn in June 2007. Prior to Witness Systems he spent five years as CEO of Eyretel and was CEO in 2000 when it successfully completed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Nick is active in the US/UK private equity community and is currently chairman of a number of other private equity backed businesses.