Given Occams Razor (if you have two solutions, choose the simpler one), it is hard to fathom why sometimes IT perversely picks the Anti-Occam strategy, the path worth avoiding, the more difficult solution. Such seems to be the case in Web Services, where vendors such as eBay, Google, and Amazon are choosing to expose their simple, query primarily Web Services as SOAP (the decidely more complex path) over XML-RPC.
Now many may argue SUREBUTT SOAP is full bodied and allows for incredibly sophisticated and complex transactions which XML-RPC is hard pressed to match. Some might argue XML-RPC has been sold short; but few would disagree that XML-RPC is robust and simple to use in handling Web Service query-primarily transactions. Now let me suggest that Pareto s Rule, also applies : 80% of Web Services transactions are going to be simple, query primarily transactions. So if anyone asks why you are using XML-RPC, tell them you have Occam and Pareto on your side.