backup before update

[findtim]

hi, i have alot of wp studiopress sites now with multiple plugins and the updates are driving me MENTAL, i have to test each one on a test domain to make sure its safe to upgrade, then i have wp updates and genesis updates to contend with, and by the way the genesis 1.7.1 was VERY frustrating for me, the v1.8 has been muchhhhhhhhh better.

can anyone give me a hint on automatically updating plugins and wp updates and genesis updates without bring my sites down if there is something wrong with an update?

i have backupbuddy but event then if somethign stuffs up its all time, i've got about 60 websites at the moment but will double them in the next 3 months which is going to take up alot of my time in just updates.

any ideas greatly appreciated

tim