The Indian Connection To Red Hat's Growth Story

Red Hat that set up its R&D centre in early 2000 with just about 10 employees has grown to a 300 employee entity

Last financial year, open source software provider Red Hat became the first Linux vendor to breach the $1-billion revenue mark, recording a revenue of $1.3 billion. This growth story has a strong India connect.

Red Hat had set up its research and development (R&D centre here in early 2000, with just 10 employees; now, this has grown into a 300-employee entity. The centre is one of the company’s largest outside the US. The company’s overall headcount is 5,700, while its staff strength in India is 450-470.

The significance of the Pune R&D centre is highlighted by Marco Bill-Peter, vice-president, global support services. He says 40 per cent of all support queries globally comes out of Pune. “We never saw India as a labour arbitrage centre. For us, it has been about hiring the best engineering talent. I think we have been giving employees the right environment to grow, as our attrition rates are one of the lowest in the industry,” he said, adding Pune was the most important part of Red Hat’s support system.