Q. How is InfoPorte pronounced?

A. IN-fo-port. The E is silent.

Q. How do I access InfoPorte?

A. InfoPorte is a Web-based system; you can access it from anywhere you have Internet service and a computer. Authorized UNC-Chapel Hill users can log in using their ONYEN and password.

Q. Which UNC units use InfoPorte?

InfoPorte was designed and developed by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. It has been used there successfully since 2007. The next unit to adopt the system was the Office of the Provost, which created a unified business cluster to consolidate the administrative infrastructure of twelve UNC centers, institutes, and programs. The School of Information and Library Sciences has also implemented InfoPorte. Entering fiscal year 2009-2010, the system will be implemented to consolidate some of the centers reporting to the associate provost for research and economic development.

Q. What types of UNC employees use InfoPorte?

A. Anyone who has responsibility for money or supervises employees can benefit from using InfoPorte. For example, faculty members use the system to get current information on their account budgets, balances, expenses, personnel allocations, and percent of effort. They also use it to process purchases and personnel. For added flexibility, faculty and other account owners can delegate responsibility to someone, such as an administrative assistant, and allow that person to access InfoPorte on their behalf.

Q. How does InfoPorte know what my access should be or what accounts I should be accessing?

A. InfoPorte gets the a bulk of its information straight from University systems. InfoPorte knows who owns what account, and based on that information along with your defined role in your department, it knows the level of access you should have. The system only shows those accounts that a principal owns to that principal and the supporting administrative assistant. It has a built in hierarchical structure [what?] for the higher ups to access the information only for the people working under them.

Q. What type of information does InfoPorte gather from UNC systems?

A. InfoPorte gets daily feeds from the financial system (FRS), check request system, and vendor management system. It gets monthly or better feeds from the human resources data warehouse and finance data warehouse. Additional systems communicate with Infoport through ePrint.

Q. Does InfoPorte replace any UNC systems?

No. InfoPorte sits on top of UNC systems and pulls the needed data from them. It builds data relationships and manipulates, reformats, and displays the information.  InfoPorte offers an easier, friendlier, and useful user interface. Think of TurboTax. Anyone can use TurboTax to easily complete  complex IRS forms and transmit the data to the IRS. TurboTax, however, in no way affects IRS systems.

Q. How does a department, school, or center acquire InfoPorte?

A. The Team for InfoPorte Governance, formed by the provost and chaired by Mike Patil of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, determines the scope of InfoPorte implementation, implementation priorities, and sequence. The provost has approved a governance document for InfoPorte that guides the work of the TIG.

Q. Who are the members of the TIG?

A. TIG is small group of representatives of major users and potential users of Infoport, such as the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, and School of Medicine

Q. Can my department get a copy of InfoPorte?

A. You can't, and the beauty of it is that you don't need your own copy. InfoPorte is presented as software as a service, commonly known as SaaS. That means it is hosted in just one place. Different organizations can be rolled into InfoPorte and can use it over the Web.

Q. Why did you decide to go with the SaaS model?

This means that everyone will be using the same version of InfoPorte, making it cheaper and easier to maintain and support as users do not need to upgrade their software. The system can be optimized for everyone instead of being customized for one unit at a time.