The one issue I have is on large databases when upgrading from one version of SQL Server to another on a different server. Log Shipping won't help there due to the different versions of SQL. The nice thing about SQL2008R2 Standard Edition is the compressed backup. I LOVE that feature and it is free with standard Edition. Taking databases from SQL2000 and 2005 to 2008R2 and seeing how much faster the backup runs and is 80% smaller is great.