(Editor's note: This feature on Carlos Correa of Liberty International Underwriters is the final article we will post this week on our 2011 Insurance IT All-Stars.)

Carlos Correa may not be the first person who asked the question, but in a varied career that has crossed from finance to operations and finally to IT, he says he still wonders, “Do people really pick insurance or do you kind of just go there?”

Correa, assistant vice president U.S. information technology manager for Liberty International Underwriters, made his first stop in the insurance industry for GRE as a claims handler in the marine division. Prior to that, he began in finance.

“It seemed natural for me to be an underwriter,” he says.

As time passed and GRE was purchased by Liberty, Correa was asked to join a project team as a subject-matter expert on the underwriting side as Liberty looked to implement a new technology solution.

Correa was on the project for nine months and helped implement the solution within all product lines across the globe. The success of the project helped lead him to make the decision to join the IT side.

Correa worked his way through the ranks of business analyst, to project manager to his current position.

IT was beginning to take on more importance within the walls of all insurance carriers and Liberty International Underwriters itself was blossoming.

“We were definitely at a rapid growth stage and the landscape was changing dramatically,” says Correa. “There was a lot of work to be done and having been in on that initial implementation project and with all the aspects of my background—finance, claims, and underwriting—I learned the systems inside and out. It gave me an advantage to have different levels of knowledge, having been on both sides of the house. I think that's been instrumental in my career.”

Correa believes the challenges of IT leadership have been changing slightly over the last few years.

“The technology solutions have changed; security is a higher concern; and speed-to-market continues to gain in importance,” he says.

The current economic climate and the condition of the market have made budgeting a struggle as most carriers seek to answer the question: How to do more with less.

“The challenges remain the same but they get shuffled in a different order,” says Correa. “The people, the relationships, and how you work those issues are the cornerstones to success as insurers execute plans and projects. That remains a constant.”

Unlike most of the people who report to Correa, he didn't move up through the more traditional programming ranks. Still, Correa feels he has an advantage over other IT leaders.

“One thing that helps me to lead IT people is that my knowledge of the business side is something they can lean on,” he says. “Some people who are technically savvy gravitate to me to glean that business knowledge. At the same time they impart on me their technical knowledge. It works really well and from that perspective it makes me a good mentor to some of my employees to impart some business knowledge on them.”

Correa also credits his growth and development as an IT leader to his association with the insurance trade group IASA. Like many insurance people, he got his first introduction to the organization through its annual conference. It was there that he not only picked up some educational opportunities, but found the value of new networking possibilities within the industry as well as seeing what industry software vendors had to offer the insurance community.

“It's a good forum to be able to access a lot of knowledge in one place in a short amount of time,” he says.

Correa reports he was approached by people within the industry to become more involved with IASA. The organization is always on the lookout for carrier representatives to serve as volunteers and help with the organization.

“The organization wants to be guided by carriers to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their members,” he says. “Once I started volunteering I got on the technology committee and I'm now the director of the technology education committee there.”

When asked which of today's technology tools will have the most staying power in the insurance industry, Correa maintains social networking will continue to evolve. 

“It's something the insurance industry is just scraping the edge of right now,” he says. “There will be more usages to be found.”

Correa also believes mobile technology will advance in importance over the next five years.

“I see [mobility] as something that is already at the front, but five years from now I think we'll be even further down the road. We will make some significant advances,” he says.

Data security is another issue that is unlikely to go away.

“Date security is constantly tightening and I think the risks continue to grow,” he says.

Still another issue to deal with involves legacy systems and core replacement.

“I see a lot of organizations that are building around their legacies or are front-ending them with newer technology,” he says. “That brings up how you integrate between the newer tech and the older. Since you're not retiring the legacy system you are still going to have the thought five years from now whether should I replace it and how should I replace it.”

Upgraded technology also brings up the question of a carrier's workforce.

“Younger people don't necessarily want to learn older technology—they want to use cutting edge technology,” he says. “Your workforce for that legacy technology is diminishing.”

When asked what keeps him up at night, Correa explains he worries about how to keep up with the innovation while remaining secure.

“Right now the cloud is abuzz, but I think everyone in the insurance industry is tip-toeing into it because of the concerns of security,” he says. “The alignment of business and IT toward a common goal is always something on my mind. The unknown—what regulatory things are going to change that will impact the industry and the IT solutions—are other key issues.”

Besides, Correa jokes, “I only sleep four hours a night.”