Which ITIL process is most closely associated with evaluating changes before implementation?

The process most closely associated with evaluating changes before implementation is Change Management. Change Management is primarily focused on controlling the lifecycle of all changes, enabling beneficial changes to be made with minimal disruption to IT services. This process involves assessing, prioritizing, and authorizing changes, ensuring that they are evaluated for their potential impact on services and the overall IT environment before any action is taken.

In the context of ITIL, Change Management ensures rigorous assessment and planning for changes, which includes evaluating risks and benefits, and obtaining approvals. This structured approach helps organizations manage changes in a way that minimizes potential service disruptions, thereby maintaining service quality and performance.

The other options, while important in their respective roles, do not focus specifically on the evaluation of changes. Incident Management deals with restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible after an incident occurs. Service Desk Management is responsible for providing a point of contact for users and aiding in incident resolution. Problem Management focuses on identifying and managing the root causes of incidents, but it does not evaluate changes in the way that Change Management does.