Re: IT Folks Report here
what's the nature / scope of his business experience? is he specialized in a certain functional area? if so, I'd suggest exploring technology related qualifications that would complement those areas.
Otherwise, it's just too difficult these days to step into the IT sector with no prior work experience. There is an abundance of candidates who have ample work experience to go along their certification credentials, so certification alone is not going to be enough.
That being said, ERP is still a pretty hot market, and depending on what his functional specialization is in business, he can look into specific modules for SAP or Oracle to see if that sort of thing interests him. For example. from personal experience, I keep getting asked by employers to recommend students who have supply chain business know-how as well as the technology skillset to work with SAP production and procurement modules. Same thing goes for people with a marketing background, and the demand for business intelligence professionals.