Oakwood Bank rides growth trajectory of banking M&A with Integris

Key takeaways from this spotlight on banking M&A:

• More than 40% of bank leaders say their bank is likely to buy another bank by the end of 2025. 
• During a six-year partnership between Integris and Oakwood Bank, the bank established new locations, built a cloud infrastructure, and shored up its cybersecurity posture.
• Oakwood Bank grew its assets by more than 500% in this six-year period.
• Today, Oakwood is offboarding from managed services but working closely with Integris to make the transition.

How banking M&A is taking shape at banks like Oakwood

The banking sector is in constant motion and change. While there are more than 3,900 banks in the United States, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, banking merger and acquisition (M&A) can be a bank’s surest path to success in a crowded field.

Indeed, in a recent survey, 43% of bank leaders said their organization is likely to buy another bank by the end of 2025.

For Dallas, Texas-based Oakwood Bank, M&A has been a part of its path to success for some time. Founded in 1900, Oakwood is known for its strong community focus and comprehensive banking services for the region. It offers loans, deposit services, and treasury management solutions for businesses and individuals. 

Growing over decades, the bank has experienced both sides of M&A. In 2019, its growth strategy led to the purchase of the Community Bank of Snyder, in Snyder, Texas.

Oakwood Bank in Texas has successfully navigated a banking M&A landscape. It has expanded locations and has grown its assets under management by 500% since 2019. In 2025, b1Bank is purchasing Oakwood Bank given its growth.

Then, in 2024, Oakwood was identified for purchase by b1Bank, after several years of growth. The transaction closed in October  2024, but the operational merger will take place in September 2025. As of September 2024, Oakwood Bank had expanded to several locations and grown its assets to $862 million.

Part of the reason for Oakwood’s success is a robust IT strategy that enables security, network connectivity, compliance with industry standards, and a flexibility in architecture to enable future growth.

A strong relationship with Integris managed services has enabled this series of successful branch expansions as well as its Snyder acquisition. It helped Oakwood expand and secure its network and integrate data among multiple institutions.

“We started off really small,” noted Edward Franco, chief technology officer at Oakwood Bank. “We [the Integris team and Franco] started talking about the network and how we needed to build it for growth. We started with three locations in 2018: the original location in Oakwood, a new corporate office in the Preston Center area, and a portable location in the North Dallas. Through Integris, Oakwood was able to [grow and develop], top-notch security and network.”

Edward Franco, chief technology officer at Oakwood Bank, has worked with Integris managed services for several years. Integris has helped the bank grow with numerous IT projects, such as am email migration, a migration to a cloud environment, several new-site builds, and technology upgrades.

Oakwood projects consisted of a bank core conversion, full server migration from on-premises to the Integris EverSpace cloud environment, an email migration, multiple site builds, an acquisition, and further upgraded technology. “It’s been a great journey,” Franco noted.

In December 2019, Oakwood acquired Snyder’s customers, assets, and integrated the bank’s data without incident. “We were able to migrate all of that data onto our EverSpace environment. … They had the knowledge to help us bring over everything seamlessly, which makes it so much easier to on the organization side to project-plan and meet deadlines.”

Over the years, Oakwood Bank built a strong a true partnership with Integris. “I can take a vacation day and know that the bank is in good hands,” Franco said. “Being able to relieve some of the stress and not having to handle things 24/7 is amazing. With Integris, I’m also able to re-focus my attention to create a technology strategy that aligns with the bank’s goals and future plans for expansion.”

Using cloud architecture and shoring up cybersecurity at Oakwood

Cloud computing has also become a key aspect of Oakwood’s successful expansion and its banking M&A strategy. Increasingly, banks are turning to cloud-based technologies for digital transformation. According to some data, 43% of banks are using private cloud computing for core banking functions, and nearly 6% are using public cloud architecture.

Even prior to its purchase of Snyder Bank, Oakwood used the EverSpace cloud architecture environment. But as Oakwood merged with the smaller bank, cloud architecture became integral.  With its cloud foundation established, Oakwood was able to integrate Snyder’s data and continue to build out business continuity and disaster recovery strategies. By contrast, Snyder’s infrastructure was on-premises. Through its acquisition of Snyder, Oakwood was able to move Snyder data successfully—thanks to its partnership with Integris.

“We were able to have a good cloud network foundation to bring the Snyder data into the cloud,” Franco noted. With EverSpace, Oakwood built out its business continuity strategy and enabled remote workforces. “One server on-premise doesn’t give much redundancy. Initially, we were using an onsite VPN [virtual private network] device. If the corporate office lost power and people were working from home, they wouldn’t be able to access that corporate workspace.

“By moving into EverSpace, we were able to have that strong cloud foundation with redundancy in the event of a power outage or a circuit outage” Franco said. Oakwood also developed its cybersecurity posture over the course of several years, which enabled it to secure a variety of attack vectors, from email to web to networks.

As Oakwood Bank grew, it benefited from a cost-effective approach to IT with managed services, Franco noted. Franco often leaned on the Integris team for networking expertise or partnership as compliance auditors examined the bank. Franco noted that the partnership was also a cost-effective approach to IT versus hiring in-house IT pros.

“From a cost perspective, it has saved the bank tremendously,” Franco said. “We were receiving a highly skilled group, a really good team that’s working 24/7 to protect our environment at a lower cost. If we had hired an internal team, that would have cost us quite a bit of money,” he said.

“It was a team effort. Whenever I had exams and was interviewed by the examiner, [Integris] would jump on the call and assist with answering in-depth network related questions.”

Offboarding from managed services: Integris remains a trusted partner

Fast-forward to today, and banking M&A continues to be a theme for Oakwood., which has been purchased by b1Bank. The acquiring bank will use in-house IT. As a result, Oakwood is going through an operational merger and will be offboarding from managed services with Integris by October 2025.

As of the fall 2025, the bank will no longer be using Integris, because bank1 has its own internal IT department. But Eric Durbin of Integris observed, Integris is committed to helping a team offboard from the MSP.

“We will be there to help out during the transition—that’s part of offboarding,” said Eric Durbin, senior strategic account adviser at Integris.” As Durbin noted, transitions to or from managed services can be difficult. MSPs or even internal IT teams can make it difficult. “We don’t want to hold anything hostage. And even once the transition is over, [Oakwood knows it] can give us a call.”

As organizations consider making changes to their IT structure—whether to sign on to MSP services or bring IT in-house—they aren’t locked in to any IT structure. They can make changes as they grow and change.

Franco affirmed that the offboarding process with Integris has been a true partnership. “[Integris is] just a call away,” Franco said. “There is just such a good amount of trust between us. I trust the Integris team 100%.”

Franco also noted that customer-centricity is at the heart of the partnership with Integris. Franco has participated in the customer advisory board, providing feedback to the MSP. “And that speaks volumes because when you have a company … that wants input from their customers and allows the customers to help guide you through what your future plans are and the direction of the company, that holds a lot of value.” Franco noted that customer participation in the Integris roadmap creates loyalty and a long-term partnership. “If we don’t have a say, you’re not going to earn loyalty from customers,” Franco noted.

As one MSP customer noted, high-quality, responsive customer service is the key to positive customer sentiment.

“Do you fix problems the first time, so they don’t recur over and over, costing me time and money? Do you understand how my business runs and the line-of-business applications I rely on? Can you protect my infrastructure and my customers’ sensitive data? Can I talk to a live person? Do you have boots on the ground if I need you? These are the qualities I’m looking for in an IT service provider. “

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