You could see me on cgarchitect, I talk a lot everywhere :- ).
Anyway, I think what you're asking for isn't any different in Corona, or any rendering engine therefore, the same workflow concept applies. IBL lighting is easier, because Corona samples Environment directly, and doesn't require Domelight side-step.
But materials, textures, their relationship to scene, it's all identical. Vray and Corona really isn't that different.
What might interest you are content management plugins to speed your workflow perhaps ? Like SigerShaders library. It does come with pre-made (very mediocre) materials, but mostly with easy manageable library to store your own materials, much
superior to the default 3dsMax clusterfuck. Check that out