Use of UNC Naming convention versus mapped drive

Our IT department would prefer that we use UNC or Universal Naming Convention when storing and retrieving files instead of using a mapped drive. Has anyone had success with utilizing UNC? I'm not getting a solid response from my VAR? (They have forwarded it to SolidWorks for an answer). We are running SolidWorks 2012 SP1 without EPDM. I have tried using UNC here and we are running into consistent problems with SolidWorks not being able to find parts. We are utilizing a virtual server arrangemnet with DFS (Dynamic File Structure) Any information would be great.

SolidworksAdministration