Red Hat was recently named to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global 100 Software Leaders Report. Red Hat was ranked 40th on the global list and 28th on the North America list. The report, which launched in 2010, is based on corporate financial statements and public sources, as complied for PwC by the Global Software Business Strategies Group at IDC. Due to variances in fiscal years, the results were ‘calendarised’ for 2011, the most recent year for which complete data was available.

Red Hat president and CEO, Jim Whitehurst, spoke to PwC regarding Red Hat’s inclusion and took a moment to discuss the future of the IT industry. Whitehurst told PwC that customer loyalty is becoming more and more important, something that continues to be a major focus for Red Hat, and discussed the opportunity surrounding cloud computing.

Whitehurst went on to add that the recent explosion in innovation has increased hiring challenges. “You get a lot of people who say, ‘I’m willing to take the risk and maybe make fifty million dollars at a start up,” says Whitehurst. “There’s no way a mature software company can source everyone they want in Silicon Valley because there’s no way you’re going to keep them all.” Noting that Red Hat has development centers worldwide, Whitehurst added, “We’ve got to get the talent wherever it is. There is a global war for talent.”

To view or download the full report, visit http://www.pwc.com/globalsoftware100.