The DEAR Group was founded in 1999 by Donald E. Rife, President and CEO, to provide Project Leadership, Quality Assurance, and Software Testing services to organizations in the greater Philadelphia area. The company has since increased its focus to include Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning. Since obtaining his degree in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College in 1976, Mr. Rife has amassed over 32 years of professional experience in the information technology industry.

The 70’s…
Mr. Rife started his career as a Technical Data Processor at McNeil Laboratories in 1976. He shortly left there to become a Systems Engineer with IBM, working in their Distributions and Utilities office in Philadelphia. While at IBM, Mr. Rife focused on data base and data communication technologies and application development.

After several years as a System engineer, Mr. Rife left IBM to seek his fame and fortune in the Atlantic City casinos. Mr. Rife spent the better part of 2 years developing software for the casino industry. Specifically, Mr. Rife developed a slot machine accounting system, which used electronic scales to weigh the coins taken from the slot machines, a telephone billing system and numerous other applications.