Dell has promised innovation as a personal company within the post-PC era — but if can customers expect to look it?

At last December’s Dell World conference, Dell CEO Michael Dell said his company had finally outgrown its PC-maker typecasting to become an end-to-end enterprise services provider. He acknowledged the corporate would continue to conform, but he called for an end to the “transformation” talk that surrounded Dell on the time.

That was before many recognized the complete scope of the computer slump, however, that’s still taking its toll at the industry, greater than a year later. It was also before Michael Dell opted to take the corporate private, before the drama that ensued as investors similar to Carl Icahn tried to wrestle away control of the corporate, and before Dell and his partners ultimately gained victory.

The last 365 days haven’t unfolded the manner many Dell observers would have guessed last December, in other words. Heading into this year’s Dell World, which kicks off this week in Austin, Texas, the corporate could be freed from the Wall Street scrutiny that has plagued it lately — nevertheless it will still face customers wondering what Michael Dell plans to do now that he is unequivocally guilty.

Dell executives were addressing this uncertainty — to an extent. Because the buyout finalized, Michael Dell has talked broadly about pursuing opportunities regarding the cloud, big data, and mobility. Those are all promising targets, but virtually all of Dell’s competitors are pursuing the identical concepts.

Other Dell executives have also painted Dell’s future largely in broad strokes. Dell North America president PH Ferrand told InformationWeek the corporate can now place R&D bets whose importance “won’t was obvious to investors.” He said hybrid clouds, device management, and an increased international sales presence can be a part of the method, but that a Dell-branded smartphone isn’t necessarily at the agenda.

[How do Dell’s Venue Pro tablets stack up? Read Microsoft Surface vs. Dell Venue: Tablet Rivals.]

Ferrand also said Dell would quicken the pace of innovation, a message other Dell execs was broadcasting besides. In an interview with The Register, Tim Carroll, executive director of Dell’s Emerging Enterprise group, likened the newly private company to the “world’s largest startup,” as an instance.

What does all this mean in concrete terms? In response to the last year, it’s hard to claim. Dell’s revenue and profit absorbed beatings within the buyout period, however the poor performance is hard to scale back to clear variables. Some would-be customers could have been gun shy until the buyout was finalized, especially when it appeared Michael Dell will be expelled from his own company. Commentators have also speculated that poor financials may need boosted Michael Dell’s buyout quest.

Dell faces an urgent must innovate but can’t force it, Forrester analyst David Johnson told InformationWeek in a phone interview. There’s pressure because Dell is “using its PC business as cash flow,” he said. “It isn’t a source of large profits.”

Dell has outperformed a number of its PC competitors within the recent quarters, but it’s done so largely by slashing prices. After playing from far, far behind inside the mobile arena, Dell seems to be generating interest with its Venue line of Windows 8.1 tablets. And its recent move toward Android tablets and Chromebooks could help it offset waning consumer interest in Windows. But some of the company’s devices also are priced to reinforce volume and gain market share, not maximize profits.

The problem for Dell is that its software and services efforts, on which it has spent billions lately, haven’t developed quickly enough to catch up on the computer downturn. But Johnson said Dell could “sustain many years as [it] places longer-term bets.”

As a private company, Dell has the flexibility to invest more in R&D, Johnson pointed out, noting that HP has likewise taken several years to redefine its culture and identity. “We may be three to four years away from some pretty innovative ideas,” he said.

From device management to cloud orchestration to security, Dell has valuable software assets, several of which were recognized this year by the research firm Gartner in its Magic Quadrant reports. The company has made progress in recent months by introducing converged infrastructure offerings not only for datacenters, but also for remote offices and small and midsized businesses (SMBs). And though its server shipments were down in Q3, investments such because its low-energy hyperscale server efforts could begin to pay off.

But after so many acquisitions, to say nothing of the buyout, Dell is still integrating its technologies into cohesive wholes. And even if the products come together, the company’s sales teams will face new challenges: It’s one thing to sell customers computers and servers, but it’s another thing to put together enterprise-scale packages that include products from a variety of teams and that span a wide range of complicated technical problems.

Johnson said the company’s focuses could range from electronic healthcare systems to desktop-as-a-service platforms. But whatever path the company chooses, he said, to succeed Dell must return to its roots.

The corporate built its reputation by delivering affordable PCs that allowed businesses and individuals to get the job done, he said. “The identical spirit can apply to cloud services and a number things. When a corporation has its own software and its own services, it could provide unique services to the SMBs who need it most.”

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Michael Endler joined InformationWeek as an associate editor in 2012. Michael graduated from Stanford in 2005 and previously worked in talent representation, as a contract copywriter and photojournalist, and as a teacher.

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