Virtualization has become a crucial part of Dell’s long-term strategy.  They are learning their way around the burgeoning sector, and looking for areas to improve. Their recent partnership with Netuitive, a business focused on performance and capacity management physical, virtual and cloud infrastructure, seems to be one of the missing pieces of Dell’s virtualization stack puzzle. This team-up hopes to ease Dell’s challenge in the dependencies present between many isolated components of virtual infrastructure and making the complex system work together flawlessly. Netuitive’s software and analytics will work hand-in-hand with Dell’s Virtual Integrated System, or VIS.

Virtualizing the stack is indeed a hot item. Dell’s VIS will join the likes of Hewlett-Packards’ Blade System Matrix and Cisco’s Unified Computing System in the war. Other companies that are focusing on virtualization have lodged recent upgrades in their own units. NetApp just updated its storage resource management’s software with virtualization and automation capabilities. Ubuntu and Debian’s affinity on Hyper-V is what Microsoft is targeting right now. Citrix on the other hand tapped OpenStack for building new private cloud offerings.

This Dell update is just one of the many pursuits that the company is chasing today. The last Dell Storage Forum 2011 showcased the company’s latest in storage solutions (Michael Dell’s new-found love), cloud services and software updates. This particular event focused on storage and virtualization. In an interview with theCube, Darren Thomas, Dell’s GM and VP for storage business, discussed key elements in their storage plan—which includes being intimate with consumers to know more about their needs.

Relentless improvements have been Dell’s weapon on their bumpy road to recovery. The company was the 1990’s sweetheart and Michael Dell’s recipe to success was in every IT enterprise’s kitchen.  But Dell was reminded of the stiff competition and the relevance of innovation in a roundabout way, when they fell into the pits aa few years ago. From as high as $40/ share, the Texas-based computer company is now at $15/share. They are still facing challenges today, but their perspective remains positive. Their margins are up in the second quarter of 2011 versus the ailing financial status of competitors.