Graeme Queen is a Tualatin, Oregon-based IT professional who specializes in IT outsourcing and contact center technologies. Outside his professional pursuits, Graeme Queen enjoys running and has participated in multiple marathons. He is minutes away from registering a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.For the first time in its 124-year history, the Boston Marathon will take place virtually in 2020. The 26.2-mile race had already been postponed until September as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in May the Boston Athletic Association and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh determined hosting a large-scale event would have been irresponsible and unrealistic. Instead, interested participants will be able to complete the race virtually on their own time between September 7 and 14.Race participants must complete the 26.2-mile run in six hours or less and provide proof to the BAA in order to receive an official medal, T-shirt, runner's bib, and program. Those who had signed up for the race when it was due to be held on its usual date of Patriots' Day in April will receive a full refund.The Boston Marathon isn't the only major marathon that is offering a virtual alternative. The 39th annual Twin Cities Marathon, which was scheduled for October 4, can now be completed virtually any time during the month of October. Similarly, the Cape Town Marathon will be held virtually on October 18.
Graeme Queen is the senior director for IT solutions delivery at a company where he leads teams in providing application development and support services to key business units. As an IT specialist, Graeme Queen has been involved in many aspects of outsourcing, including software development.Software development outsourcing involves hiring a third-party provider to handle software-related work instead of using an in-house team. Businesses benefit from this outsourcing as they minimize costs while increasing their level of production. Additionally, outsourcing software development is beneficial to software-dependent businesses due to the following:- Wider access to a talented and skilled workforce from a variety of locations, even different countries
- More time to focus on a company’s core processes and strategic goals
- Reduced risk by dividing parts and assignments among different service providers
- Enhanced protection against security breaches, by bringing tools and best practices to the function of software development
As a leader at Standard Insurance Company for more than a decade, Graeme Queen has most recently served the insurance carrier as second vice president of strategic account services since 2017. When he isn’t working, he has been teaching himself to cook. One of Graeme Queen’s most successful dishes to date has been chicken tikka masala.Composed of marinated and tandoor-cooked boneless chicken pieces in a slightly spicy tomato-cream sauce, Chicken tikka masala is popular in many places around the world. It is particularly appreciated in England, where people widely consider it to be the country’s unofficial national dish. Although chicken tikka masala achieved widespread cultural significance in England, its precise place of origin is a subject of some debate. Many people contend that British cooks created the dish to make northern India’s popular butter chicken more palatable to Western diners. Others contend that chicken tikka masala arrived in England from its native India in, more or less, its current form. Still others track the dish back to 1970s Glasgow, Scotland, where a Bangladeshi chef is supposed to have pleased a single customer by adding sauce to his marinated tikka-spiced boneless chicken kebabs.
