1. A computer-implemented method in which a computer system initiates execution of software instructions stored in memory for defining a canonical metadata query definition, the computer-implemented method comprising: defining a query expression including query portions, the query portions being individually accessible by a database responsive to the query expression, the database maintaining transactional data collected from a plurality of manageable entities within a storage area network; performing a reporting action accessing at least one of the defined query portions of the query expression to provide analysis data; identifying, from the analysis data, a results action to be performed; and invoking the identified results action using at least a portion of the query expression, further comprising performing the reporting action and the results action by at least one application task operable to perform task actions, the task actions operable to interrogate the database and generate an output result, the reporting action and results action both being task actions, further including iteratively performing task actions to determine a conclusion, the task actions performed by different application tasks by reusing query portions derived from a same query expression in successive queries by other application tasks.