Kalina's mandate is to expand the activities of INVIA.CZ while maintaining high standards of customer care.

Kalina joined INVIA.CZ in the spring of this year. He has a vast range of experience gained during a seven-year stint as financial director of Microsoft Czech Republic/ Slovakia and Hungary. For the last three years, he was a consultant in the financial advisory services arena.

Internet security systems provider Check Point expanded its Czech office with two new appointments earlier this summer. Daniel Šafář was appointed the manager of Check Point's distribution channel in Central and Eastern Europe. Šafář, who previously worked as the regional manager for education at Sun Microsystems Czech, will focus on developing distribution channels in the region.

Meanwhile, Luděk Hrdina was appointed marketing manager. In the past, Hrdina collaborated with Check Point as a business consultant.

Consultancy Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC) has also strenghtened its Prague staff. Josh Ellis and Janusz Oczyp have joined PwC as senior and assistant managers, respectively, in the forensic services department.

Ellis will be responsible for managing the growth and development of the forensic technology solutions (FTS) practice and establishing special forensic technology labs across the region, while Janusz will be responsible for further expanding FTS services.

Ellis has worked in the Central European FTS field for three and a half years. He has over four years of FTS experience, working primarily across the banking, utilities and telecommunications sectors in the UK, Ireland, Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia.

Drawing on eight years of experience in the IT and forensic areas, Oczyp will operate across numerous sectors including banking, telecoms, breweries, the automotive industry and utilities.

Milan Sameš was recently confirmed as the managing director for the Czech Republic at software solutions firm Ness Technologies. He will be reporting to Ness' president for Europe, Ivan Hruška.

Sameš joined Ness Technologies as vice president of operations and is well-known in the telecommunications and banking industries. He has worked in top managerial positions for Logica CMG and Nokia.

Also at Ness Technologies, Mirko Kalous was appointed director of operations. Among Kalous' beats is outsourcing. He also participated in Komerční banka's privatization in 2001.