Systems and methods to categorize unprotected virtual machines

A system to categorize unprotected virtual machines in an information management cell, the system comprising:

• computer hardware including one or more computer processors;
• and
• computer-readable storage comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer hardware to perform operations defined by the computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions configured to:
• automatically identify one or more virtual machines not associated with a backup policy in an information management cell;
• automatically retrieve backup characteristics of each virtual machine not associated with a backup policy;
• automatically retrieve one or more categories, each category associated with criteria and a backup policy;
• automatically compare the backup characteristics of each virtual machine not associated with a backup policy with the criteria associated with each category;
• and
• when the backup characteristics of the virtual machine match the criteria associated with the category, automatically apply the associated backup policy to the virtual machine.