Dell is striving to shed its PC only roots by adding new enterprise focused products and services. However, the company’s strategy for software and cloud isn’t going as smoothly as it hoped. Dell announced its very optimistic roadmap for entering the cloud market last year in August. This year the PC giant showed its continuing commitment to the plan by acquiring companies like Wyse Technology. Dell may have its eye on the future, but actually getting there is taking longer than anticipated.

Dell planned to release a cloud-based analytics service for small and medium businesses last August. Developing the software has taken longer than expected and now Dell is saying the product will launch in early 2013. That’s not the only offering with a delivery date that been moved further into the future. Last Friday, Dell announced its Microsoft Azure based platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is behind schedule and had no new release date.

Dell might be struggling with delays, but it still has lofty goals. It plans to expand its software business significantly over the next few years focusing on four key areas – security, systems management, business intelligence and business applications, and most of these items will live in the cloud. Dell’s aspirations may resemble those of its competitors, but its rollout plan includes a bit of a twist. Dell has indicated it will roll out its new products in emerging before targeting markets like the US and Europe. These markets are smaller, but filled with companies that can’t afford to establish their own infrastructure and welcome new cloud-based options.

Although Dell’s software releases have slowed, its acquisitions have not. The company has been rapidly adding to its capabilities by gobbling up companies like Quest, SecureWorks, SonicWall, AppAssure, Scalent and Kace. Dell has already launched its infrastructure-as-a-service offering and also provides a small number of hosted services likes Salesforce.com. However, the company has a lot of work to do before it can compete with well-established players in the software and cloud markets. There is also a constant stream of companies, like Dell, that are entering the market to diversify their portfolio.

It might be hard, but Dell does have a few things working in its favor. It isn’t burdened by servers full of legacy software to modernize. Dell also has a rich ecosystem of vendors to use as examples of what they should and should not do. In addition, many companies are just beginning their formal transition to the cloud, which means there will be plenty of opportunity for Dell to sell its new wares.