The push into software is part of a wider turnaround effort at Dell, which wants to become less dependent on PCs and a bigger player in software and services, which tend to carry higher profit margins. That too will take time.

"IBM took 20 years to remix a business that was hardware-centered to one that's software- and service-centered," said Swainson, who spent 26 years at IBM before moving to CA. "It won't take us 20 years to do that, but it also won't take a year-and-a-half."

Still, Dell has been making acquisitions at a rapid pace. In security, for instance, it bought SecureWorks and SonicWall, and for systems management it has bought Wyse, AppAssure, Scalent and Kace, as well as Quest.

Its pitch is that mid-sized companies, or those with 200 to 2,500 employees, want similar capabilities to large enterprises in areas like network security and business intelligence, but need products that are easier to deploy and use.

Dell says it will combine hardware and software into preconfigured systems that are easier to install and manage, and support them through its services arm. An example is its Quickstart Data Warehouse Appliance, which combines Dell servers and its Boomi integration software with Microsoft's SQL Server database.