Trending @Accenture; IJP from Operations to Technology

My friend is working in Accenture operations and he has completed a course on Oracle DBA. Based on the interaction that I had I can classify him at an intermediate to beginners level in knowledge basis but he has a great commitment towards work. I spoke to my supervisor and manager regarding internal movement (IJP) open right now in our project, she straight away declined saying we don't let the Operations in. I'm not sure what to do here, he is an eligible candidate, should I raise this to HR or Leadership (breaking the elescaltion hierarchy)?