I recently had the requirement to configure log shipping in a SQL 2008 R2 Standard Edition environment. In my scenario, we needed to move a two node cluster to another floor but also attach it to a new SAN, have minimal downtime, no data loss and use the current server hardware.
If you are a developer of SSIS packages then this article (here) will give you a good run down on the SSIS package deployment improvements in SQL Server 2012. These improvements will definitely make your life easier in deploying SSIS packages to multiple servers and environments.
The Self-Service Business Intelligence (BI) paradigm has be around since SQL Server 2008, and now SQL Server 2012 and Excel 2013 have provided even more enhancements and sweeteners for BI enthusiasts.