IT Request Forms

We have a real problem with the process by which work reaches us from the business. My understanding of this process is as follows:

1. Business wants work done
2. Submits IT Request to outsourced Request department
3. Request is then submitted to internal Request department (Service Management)
4. Internal Request department submit it to our team
5. We read the request and fill in a new form containing costs and timescales
6. We submit that back to the internal Request department
7. They submit that back to the business for their approval of costs and timescales.

Now, maybe its just me, but this strikes me as a bit of a long-winded nightmare. In fact it is common for the business to have to wait 2-3 months (quite seriously) to get to point 7. Now I accept that some process needs to be in place to allow the whole thing to be managed correctly, but this way we're making it really hard for our own company to do business with us! This can't be sensible.

There must surely be a better way. What if we engaged earlier? What if the Service Management portion of this was only put in place after development? Before then, there is no real service anyway. Let us interface with the business and get on with what we do. Would this improve the process? Would it leave us with too much work?