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

A method is provided in one example and includes receiving sets of metadata elements and corresponding category information representing objects of a data storage location that are classified based on a category. The method further includes generating a summary of a subset of the classified objects and initiating a protection task for objects of the subset. In more specific embodiments, the protection task includes applying a remediation policy to the objects of the subset. Another protection task includes registering the objects of the subset. In other specific embodiments, the summary includes at least one of a total count and a total size of the objects in the subset. In yet other more specific embodiments, the method includes creating an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) data structure to represent the sets of metadata elements and the corresponding category information with the summary of the subset being generated from the OLAP data.