Investment commonly fuels innovation. Not only does it allow for time to be spent on creating, but it also allows for the necessary supplies to turn innovation into reality to be acquired. Overture, meanwhile, has recently announced that it will have quite a bit of room to innovate thanks to an initial equity investment of $8 million. Better yet, that may not be the end of Overture's funding drive, and that $8 million may well go up from there.

The company's announcement reflected not only the $8 million secured, but also that the amount could ultimately reach $11.7 million by the time it was all said and done. The funding in question was geared to help Overture not only develop new hardware and software, but also in terms of getting new services around for potential users. More specifically, the funds will step up development and the eventual introduction of Overture's Ensemble Open Service Architecture software, along with Overture's upcoming Carrier Ethernet product lineup.

Plus, Overture also plans to open up a pair of new development centers to back up the North Carolina team operating out of Research Triangle Park. The new facilities are located in Bangalore, India, and Westford, Mass.

Given that, reportedly, five out of the top seven Carrier Ethernet service providers as well as eight of the 10 total Carrier Ethernet service providers in the United States all use Overture products, that's a good reason to put some resources into the development of said products and services. Further, as noted by recent remarks from Overture's president and CEO, Mike Aquino, putting resources into development is also a smart move for Overture thanks to the direction in which the market itself is going.

Aquino explained, "Our industry is changing rapidly around advancements in software-defined and virtualized network services, initiatives that will enable us to advance Overture’s market leadership position in Carrier Ethernet. We are committed to providing our customers a competitive edge through the optimization of their service creation, activation and assurance."

Given that recently Global Capacity turned to the Overture 6000 to allow for Ethernet and TDM access over one Ethernet connection, it's clear that Overture's product line already has something of a following. To upgrade the amount of resources going into Overture's development processes and innovation functions is likely to pay dividends in terms of new products to offer down the road, which in turn are likely to generate new sales.

Today's $8 million could well be tomorrow's $80 million, and thanks to the newly-received $8 million in question, Overture now has a better chance than ever to pull off a return on that investment.