One of the most exciting now additions to SharePoint is definitely the Business Data Catalog (BDC). It allows you to bring LOB-data in a very consistent and declarative (IBF-like :)) way into the SharePoint environment. Just like with IBF in the old days, it is all about creating an XML file - also referred to as an application definition file and 'till now, I used notepad to create those ones.
But things will get better. On the new GotDotNet - www.codeplex.com - you can find the Database Metadata Generator for the Business Data Catalog. This handy little tool will probably get better over the next coming months but it is quite useful for creating those application definition files. And, it is already geared up for beta 2!