I had a need the other day to restore a deleted OU from a Windows 2003 Active Directory. This used to be such a big deal; requiring the AD, Server and Backup guys all working together. Authoritative restores are such a pain in the rear, but Active Administrator by Scriptlogic has made this a non-issue. We can pick an OU from one of the scheduled backups and re-animate the object with ease. It almost makes you want to delete stuff just so you can restore it.
The product is a little pricey, but it only takes one or two restores for it to pay for itself. I would highly recommend this product to anyone responsible for managing active directory.
Here is a link to a case study I was interviewed for several months ago:
http://www.scriptlogic.com/CaseStudies/Download/state-of-indiana-case-study.pdf