It is kind of similar to those using Struts for MVC type of application framework, you can do the same with straight JAVA,but Struts provide you will some convenient method to build the MVC apps.
So it is kind of boiling down to whether you feel comfortable with Axis or just pure JAVA....
Axis is very unobtrusive, and, in my opinion, is nothing like a framework. When exposing server code as web services, I see it more like a "decorator" than anything else.
