After two years , Alan Avakian , Senior Director of IT and John Jackson , Chief Information Officer at Aerojet Rocketdyne , discuss the company ’ s innovative transformation journey since 2018
130
W ith 20 years ’ experience within information technology , Alan Avakian , Senior Director of IT at Aerojet Rocketdyne , has spent most of his career in the aerospace and defense industry . “ I started out as an application developer , working in technologies ranging from the mainframe to client / server and web . Other technical roles I have had include database administration and project management ,” says Avakian . “ After working with programmers and internal customers , I branched out into other more specialized disciplines including reporting and ERP . At a certain point , I had to make a career choice between technical and management tracks , and chose management in the end for the opportunities . With guidance from others , I went back for my Masters of Business Administration and transitioned to managing my own department before becoming a Director and Chief Technology Officer .”