It seems terribly obscure, long winded, over complicated, and wreaks of unnecessary overhead. Is this stuff really in use? If so, there has GOT to be a better way to get things done. This PMBOK stuff could cause a lot of waste in terms of both time and staffing resources for a business, as far as I can tell.
Is this really a current standard?
Any pros care to share some real world experience to a student who seems to have stumbled across a terribly inefficient looking set of guidelines?