Dell has announced it will launch an enterprise cloud offering in partnership with long-time strategic partner VMware, at the virtualisation software vendor's annual conference, VMworld.

The Dell Cloud will be based on VMware vCloud Data Center Services, and will be available in the US in the fourth quarter of this year, followed by Europe, the Middle-East, Africa and Asia-Pacific in 2012.

Teve Schuckenbrock, president of Dell Services, says the offering will provide customers with a secure enterprise solution.

"With one of the largest bases of VMware-installed customers, we will be able to provide seamless interoperability with existing VMware environments.

For VMware, Scott Aronson, senior vice president of global channels and alliances, says, "Our expanded partnership will enable enterprises to improve efficiency and agility by leveraging internal and external resources in a compatible, compliant and flexible manner.

Analysts say the move is another sign of Windows PC manufacturers focusing on the enterprise market, having conceded the consumer market to Apple. HP announced last week it would look to separate or sell its PC division, Personal Systems Group.

Update: VMware's chief executive has addressed 19,000 attendees in a keynote speech at the company's annual conference.

Paul Maritz, for a time the number three man at Microsoft behind Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, told the audience VMware agrees with Steve Jobs' assertion that the industry is entering the post-PC era.

"In three years," Maritz says, "more than 80% of the devices that connect to the internet won't be Windows-based PCs."

The industry needs to think laterally to cope with this change, Maritz says.

"The problem is that people under 35 don't sit behind desks. They don't lovingly create documents."

VMware launched the centrepiece of its cloud offering, vSphere 5, in the middle of last month.

Go here to read about last week's assertion from Microsoft that PCs will remain at the heart of the computing world.