Getting mscrm 2011 environment

Good thing is you are in Microsoft crm 2011, so you need to know your benefits when compared to other crm’s in the market
MSCRM 2011 is the only one which is having onpremise, partner hosted and crm online versions of deployments to work on to date.

MSCRM 2011 was developed on XRM framework…..which is ready to give business solutions to any kind of domain
like Customer Relationship Management, Studen Relationship Management, Employee Relationship Management, Logistics Relationship Management etc…
so which ever relationship you would like just MSCRM 2011 supports that.

MSCRM 2011 is having trail period access for 30 days. I don’t wish you to buy the license straight away and test the product…rather
register for 30 day trail and see OOB all crm functionalities and later go for license.

Link for 30 day trail
http://crm.dynamics.com

Community resources — https://community.dynamics.com/Usergroup
Microsoft Forums — http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/crmdevelopment/threads
Resource Centre — http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/on-prem/default.aspx?ver=5.1

Books: If follow the below order preferably or any one you can jump straight away depending on your requirement
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Step by Step — Mike Snyder, Jim Steger
Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 — Mike Snyder, Jim Steger
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Administration Bible — Matthew Wittemann, Geoff Ables
Using Silverlight with CRM 2011 — David Yack

The CRM Field Guide — 19 MVP’s

More information you can find by click here

Certifications
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Applications — Exam MB2-868
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration — Exam MB2-866
Extending Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 — Exam MB2-876
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Installation and Deployment — Exam MB2-867

I prefer giving some time on books, crm online site, certification and Microsoft forums should help to master this Monster!