Findings from Dell's first Global Technology Adoption Index have uncovered a plethora of data that provides a number of key insights into how organizations are approaching security, cloud, mobility and big data to drive their businesses. The results include responses from more than 2,000 global organizations who overwhelmingly say that security is the biggest concern in IT solutions.

Even with that, 97 percent of those surveyed currently use or plan to use cloud solutions, and about half have implemented a mobility strategy. Big data is the big loser here as adoption trails — about 60 percent of organizations surveyed say they do not know how to gain its insights.

"We know that security, cloud, mobility and big data are the top IT priorities in all industries, but we need a deeper understanding of the practical realities of how companies are using these technologies today and what, if anything, is preventing them from unleashing their full potential," Karen Quintos, chief marketing officer for Dell, said in a statement.

"Despite mounting security risks and increased reliance on the Internet and technology to run their businesses, many small and midsize organizations are underprepared to deal with today's security threats, let alone those of the future," said Laurie McCabe, partner, SMB Group.

"These companies know that disruptive technologies like cloud, mobility and big data can drive innovation and create competitive advantage, but it's often difficult for them to take a strategic approach and overcome security concerns in order to fully harness the potential."

Dell found that security concerns are holding organizations back from further investing in major technologies. Apparently, a lack of readily available security information is preventing organizations from being prepared during a security breach.

Only 30 percent of respondents said they have the right information available to make risk-based decisions. Only 25 percent actually have a plan in place for all types of security breaches, and just 28 percent of organizations have executives that are fully engaged with security initiatives.

In regard to security:

• Security resources are primarily spent on protecting against hackers and adhering to compliance regulations.
• Only 39 percent of respondents said they have a workforce that is fully aware of the organization's own security rules.
• Only 13 percent of those surveyed are using security to enable new things, while only 18 percent are using security as a competitive advantage.

Regarding the cloud, this is its era. Nearly every IT decision-maker — 97 percent — uses or plans to use a cloud solution in the near term, with Dell suggesting a strong correlation between cloud use and company growth.

"Of those using cloud, 72 percent of organizations surveyed experienced 6 percent growth or more in the last three years, with just 4 percent experiencing zero or negative growth. This is in sharp contrast with companies not using cloud, where just 24 percent have growth rates of 6 percent or more, and 37 percent experienced either zero or negative growth," the report states.

Organizations using three or more types of cloud solutions experienced a 15 percent increase in employee productivity relative to those using only one type of cloud solution. Again, though, security is the top concern for utilizing the cloud.

Mobility solutions also offer huge benefits, most notably, created efficiencies and employee productivity — but, again, security is a huge impediment to adoption. Half of respondents cited "risk of data breach from lost devices and unprotected wireless networks" as the biggest mobility risk and 44 percent listed "fear of security breach" as the primary barrier to expanding mobile within the organization.

Big data is the most difficult to nail down. Many organizational leaders still have little actual knowledge of what big data is and how it affects their organizations. And while many say they have data that can be analyzed, far less than half know how to extract the data, and it remains a lesser important issue to security, the cloud and mobility.

However, those with a big data strategy are more effective in pulling business insights from the information and setting up strategies for growth than those that are not. The average three-year growth rate for those that leverage the data is about twice as high as those are less effective in using data.

Dell goes on to suggest that financial, healthcare and telecom companies are more apt to take advantage of their big data than others.