Hewlett-Packard (HP) has recently increased its investment in the Linux Foundation - the organization behind Linux and other open-source software projects - by upgrading its membership of the organization from Gold to Platinum.

The move - which brings HP alongside the few other `Platinum member' companies like IBM, Samsung, and Intel - means that while HP was paying an annual membership cost of $100,000 for being a Gold member; it will now have to shell out a whopping $500,000 a year for its Platinum membership of the Linux Foundation.

The upgrading of its Linux Foundation membership will earn HP a seat on the organization's board of directors, as well as give it the opportunity to play a role in the organization's initiatives, events, labs, and work groups.

Despite the fact that HP has been involved with the Linux Foundation for a long time, the company's recent decision to upgrade its membership apparently underscores its attempts to have a bigger say in the cloud, especially since the company needs to enhance its own cloud-computing offerings and sell servers to businesses that are building their own private clouds.

While HP has not officially specified the reason behind its increased contribution in the Linux Foundation, Eileen Evans - HP's VP and associate general counsel - said in a recent statement that the move "advances our own business, as well as greater industry innovation."