How are you conducting testing for quarterly upgrades and other changes?

Summary:

We are struggling with testing on two fronts. And curious how others are handling

First it falls during a very inconvenient time. The quarterly patch is delivered on the first Friday is is typically in our business time with financial close…..has anyone been able to have this moved to later in the month say second Friday?

Two entering test cases is time consuming and tedious and the testing window is so short it is difficult to fit in the necessary testing. has anyone implemented either Oracle's tools or 3rd party? How much ongoing maintenance and support do these require