Microsoft has published a good whitepaper that explains the new functionality in SQL Server 2008 R2 that will allow you to more easily manage multiple servers with Managed Server Groups and to deploy and maintain databases with Data Tier Applications. This whitepaper is packed with good information, including multiple diagrams and examples.

One caveat you should be aware of is that the August CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 only supports managing other SQL Server 2008 R2 instances. Support for SQL Server 2008 instances is supposed to be added in a later CTP build.