SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING DATA PROTECTION WORKFLOWS IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

A method is provided in one example and includes receiving first sets of metadata elements representing objects of an inventory and generating a first summary of a first subset of the objects. The method further includes receiving second sets of metadata elements and corresponding category information representing objects of the first subset that are classified based on a first category and generating a second summary of a second subset of the classified objects. In yet further embodiments, the method includes initiating a protection task for objects of the second subset of the classified objects. In more specific embodiments, the protection task includes applying a remediation policy to the objects of the second subset or registering the objects of the second subset. In yet other embodiments, the second summary includes at least one of a total count and a total size of the objects in the second subset.